In response to the European Council’s report on applications to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, in which it ranks Slovenia among the countries with data protection shortcomings, the Ministry of Public Administration said that the report was written negligently, which “such a reputable institution as is European Council should not afford”.
According to the ministry, the #StayHealthy application has been adapted from a German application so as not to allow the misuse of users’ personal data, nor is it possible to misuse location data that must be activated on the phone when it is installed.
The Ministry of Public Administration warns that it is necessary to distinguish between the #StayHealthy application and other platforms or web portals. The report of the European Council repeatedly mentions the website undefined instead of the application, which was not established by the government. This website made it possible to report an infection, whereby the user had to enter his/her unique identification number (EMŠO) and in this way ensure that there were no false reports. The Ministry of Public Administration explained that due to the lack of security and the collection of personal data, the authors of the website had to withdraw and delete the obtained data.
The ministry also pointed out the erroneous statement in the report that the Slovenian application #StayHealthy operates on a centralised data collection system. They have never thought about this, as they only adapted a German application operating on a decentralised system for the Slovenian market. They explained that this means that contacts are perceived on users’ phones rather than on a central server. Furthermore, they add that the decentralised system provides users with greater anonymity.