Belgium: Telecoms location data to be provided to third-party analytics company

The Belgian Minister of Public Health has approved a programme under which telephone companies Proximus and Telenet will transfer some of their their data to the private third-party company Dalberg Data Insights in order to help combat the coronavirus epidemic; Orange has also agreed "in principle". The details are still to be agreed pending a legal and technical analysis of the proposed project. So far it has been reported that location data and real-time tracking would be used to assess the spread and locate hotspots. They are also reportedly exploring the possiblity to de-anonymise data for persons identified as being at risk by the model to be able to send them targeted medical advice via SMS. A partnership with data analytical firm specialised in "data for good", Dalberg Data Insights is proposing its services to analyse the data but that has yet to be approved by the government.

Sources:

https://www.en24.news/c/2020/03/coronavirus-de-block-firm-says-yes-to-the-use-of-telecom-data.html
https://plus.lesoir.be/286535/article/2020-03-12/coronavirus-le-cabinet-de-block-dit-oui-lutilisation-des-donnees-telecoms (paywalled)

Author: Amandine Cloot