Coronavirus: can Hong Kong law enforcers access data on city’s official Covid-19 contact-tracing app?
- Experts said information could only be accessed if it was stored by a third party and court would apply stringent standards for any warrant application
- Government reiterates that records from ‘Leave Home Safe’ app are only stored on users’ devices
While concerns about possible abuses of the app resurfaced after officials announced that patrons of restaurants and some other venues would be asked to use it from Thursday, analysts said the information could only be accessed if it was stored by a third party, and the court would apply the same stringent standards it did for other devices that stored personal data when handling warrant applications.
The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer on Tuesday also reiterated that records of the “Leave Home Safe” app were only stored on users’ devices, while warning the public against downloading fake programmes with similar interfaces.
App downloads have exceeded 840,000 since it was released in mid-November and more than 70,000 venues had signed up as of Tuesday. The app requires users’ permission to access a device’s camera, mobile network and storage.