Coronavirus: We're not collecting anyone's personal data – Minister

Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has assured citizens that none of their personal data is being collected following the institution of an Emergency Communications Service by the President.

This follows the signing of an Executive Instrument (EI) 63 on the establishment of an Emergency Communications Service to assist the Ghana Health Service in its bid to counter the spread of Coronavirus through contact tracing.

“We’re using technology to assist the Ghana Health Service to fight the Coronavirus pandemic and on the 23rd of March, the President signed the Executive Instrument (EI 63) for the establishment Emergency Communications Service and now that is being set up with telecommunications companies using the metadata behind our phones communications and it is not collecting the content of anybody phone communications,” Owusu-Ekuful said at a press briefing in Accra on April 14.

“We’re not interested in who is saying what to whom or who is sending which message to whom. We’re only using the phone numbers and the location to assist the Ghana Health Service track incidents of this coronavirus,” she explained.

Meanwhile, government, through the Ministry of Communications on April 13, launched the Ghana COVID-19 Tracker Application to aid locate individuals who attend the same function as part of measures towards the enhanced contact tracing exercise to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Accessible as a browser-based app, the COVID-19 Tracker will also allow individuals to self-report symptoms without needing to visit a healthcare facility and thereby aiding in social distancing.