Québec consults citizens on the possible use of a tracking app
Québec consults citizens on the possible use of a tracking app
The Government of Quebec invites citizens to express their opinion on the use of a mobile application for notification of exposure to COVID-19.
The Minister Delegate for Government Digital Transformation, Eric Cairo, kicked off this public consultation on Wednesday, which will be held online until August 2.
Combined with existing measures, such an application could, according to Mr. Caire, contribute to the collective effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. As mentioned by the Minister, the government wishes to preserve the anonymity and privacy of each person and indicates that the application would improve communication with users who may have been potentially exposed to the virus.
Quebec considers it essential that the population be able to express themselves on the issue. A public consultation, accessible on the government consultation platform at consultation.quebec.ca, will allow, among other things, to know the interest of Quebecers for such an application.
Minister Cairo added that a parliamentary committee will be held next August to hear from various experts and individuals concerned with the subject.
Additional information
The government has determined certain essential principles in the event that it makes a notification application accessible:
– The application intended for the Quebec population would be free, anonymous, secure and installed on a voluntary basis.
– The application would work without GPS geolocation.
– The application would work without recourse to biometrics, therefore without recourse to facial recognition.
– The application would work using Bluetooth technology. Thus, it would not collect any personal information and would not perform any tracking.
– The application would notify the user who has been in the vicinity of another user who has received a positive result in COVID-19.
– The notified persons would not obtain any information on the smartphone which gave the notification, nor on its owner.
– A telephone number to communicate with the Minister of Health and Social Services would also be transmitted for assistance.
To find out more or to participate in the consultation: consultation.quebec.ca
