Privacy Considerations When Using Smartphone Location Data To Limit The Spread Of COVID-19

As countries around the world continue their efforts to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), governments are increasingly turning to technology to enforce "social distancing" rules and related measures designed to contain the spread of the virus. For example: 

• in Italy, Germany and Austria, telecommunications companies are now sharing smartphone location data with governments to monitor whether individuals are complying with self-isolation rules; 
• in Israel, the government is using location data to trace the movement of individuals who have contracted COVID-19 and identifying people who should be quarantined as a result of close contact; and
• in Canada, the Government of Alberta recently indicated that it plans to implement location-tracking measures to enforce quarantine orders.