Desafíos de las administraciones públicas para garantizar el derecho fundamental a la protección de datos de carácter personal en la era post COVID-19

• Author: José Luis Dominguez Alvarez
• Position: Researcher Staff (FPU17/01088) in Administrative Law Department of Salamanca University
• Pages: 167-191

Licenciado bajo Licencia Creative Commons

Licensed under Creative Commons

Revista Eurolatinoamericana

de Derecho Administrativo

ISSN 2362-583X

DOI: 10.14409/redoeda.v7i2.9551

167

Como citar este artículo | How to cite this article: DOMÍNGUEZ ÁLVAREZ, José Luis. Public administration’s challenges in order

to guarantee the fundamental right of personal data protection in the post-COVID-19 era. Revista Eurolatinoamericana de

Derecho Administrativo, Santa Fe, vol. 7, n. 1, p. 167-191, ene./jun. 2020. DOI 10.14409/redoeda.v7i2.9551.

* This contribution has been made under the Programme of Grants for University Teacher Training (FPU17/01088) of the Ministry

of Education, Culture and Sport. The author is a member of the Recognized Research Group “Reform and Modernization of

Public Administrations” of Salamanca University (GISALMAD-USAL).

** Researcher Sta (FPU17/01088) in Administrative Law Department of Salamanca University. PhD candidate in the Doctoral

Program “Administration, Finance and Justice in the Social State” of Salamanca University. Specialized in the study of personal

data protection in the digital revolution, the modernization of public administrations, sustainable rural development and

emptied Spain, as well as the implementation of public policies on gender equality and the ght against gender violence.

He was regarded with an Academic Excellence Prize in order to Salamanca University and an Academic Excellence Prize after

nishing the Degree in Political Science and Public Administration with mention in Public Administration. He has written and

published more than fteen articles in prestigious Spanish academic magazines, numerous chapters in collective Academic

Books and is the author of two full Books. E-mail: jldoal@usal.es.

R. E . D  A., Sant a Fe, vol. 7, n. 1 , p. 167-191, ene./jun. 2020.

Public administration’s challenges in order to guarantee

the fundamental right of personal data protection

in the post-COVID-19 era*

Desafíos de las Administraciones Públicas para garantizar el

derecho fundamental a la protección de datos personales

en la era post-COVID-19

JOSÉ LUIS DOMÍNGUEZ ÁLVAREZ I, **

I Universidad de Salamanca (Salamanca, Spain)

jldoal@usal.es

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7623-8029

Recibido el/Received: 30.08.2020 / August 30th, 2020

Aprobado el/Approved: 25.11.2020 / November 25th, 2020

Abstract:

The irruption of COVID-19 has led to a multitude of

deep-seated transformations, which go beyond the pu-

rely sanitary sphere, leading to major socio-economic

changes, among which the evolution of traditional forms

of administrative intervention or the empowerment and/

or acceleration of the advances derived from the digital

(re)volution stand out for their extraordinary importance.

Thereby, in recent months we have witnessed the imple-

mentation of numerous initiatives aimed to alleviate the

Resumen:

La irrupción de la COVID-19 ha provocado una multitud

de transformaciones de gran calado, que trascienden el

ámbito puramente sanitario, dando lugar a importantes

cambios socioeconómicos, entre los que destacan por su ex-

traordinaria importancia la evolución de las formas tradi-

cionales de intervención administrativa o la potenciación

y/o aceleración de los avances derivados de la (re)volución

digital. Así, en los últimos meses hemos asistido a la puesta

en marcha de numerosas iniciativas destinadas a paliar los

José Luis Domínguez Álvarez

Rev. Eurol atin. Direi to Adm., Sant a Fe, vol. 7, n. 1 , p. 167-191, ene./jun. 2020.

168

Summary:

1. The new technologies and the mass processing data as spearhead of the Health Au-

thorities actions aimed to slowing down the expansion of COVID-19; 2. The treatment

of special categories of personal data in times of crisis: legal regime of health data;

3. The new challenges for public administrations to ensure privacy in the post-CO-

VID-19 scenario; 3.1. Temperature screening; 3.2. Teleworking and information securi-

ty; 3.3. Immunological passports and Immunological curriculum vitae; 4. Conclusions.

5. References.

1. NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND THE MASS PROCESSING

DATA AS SPEARHEAD OF THE HEALTH AUTHORITIES

ACTIONS AIMED TO SLOWING DOWN THE EXPAN

SION OF COVID19

On December 31st, 2019, appeared in Wuhan, China, a new outbreak of coronavirus,

causing a huge commotion between the medical community and the rest of the world.

This new coronavirus species was referred to as SARS-COV-2 (hereinafter COVID-19),

causing a large number of infected people and deaths in China and outside it, beco-

ming a global public health emergency1.

1 SARS-COV-2 is a virus with high homology with other pathogenic coronaviruses, such as those caused by

zoonoses with bats causing approximately 646 deaths in China in the early 1990s. Its mortality rate is not so

high (approximately 2-3%), but its rapid spread has led to the activation of protocols to stop its propagation.

Despite the adoption of those measures and protocols, COVID-19 has become an unprecedented pandemic

in our recent history, leading to the saturation of health resources and causing enormous human, economic

and social losses. Cfr. CRUZ, Marcio, SANTOS, Edgar, VELÁZQUEZ, Manuel, y LEÓN, Moisés. COVID-19, una

emergencia de salud pública mundial. Revista Clínica Española. 2020, p. 1.

harmful eects of the pandemic by developing techno-

logical tools based on processing categories of specially

protected personal data, such as health data, which rai-

ses important questions from the perspective of privacy

and digital rights. The aim of this study is to carry out a

detailed analysis of some essential elements, necessary

to achieve the dicult balance between the promotion

of technological instruments that contribute to control

the eects of COVID-19 increasing the resources availa-

ble to health authorities, and safeguarding the funda-

mental right of personal data protection.

Keywords: COVID-19, protection data, privacy, technolo-

gical development, health authorities; apps; temperatu-

re; immunological passports.

efectos nocivos de la pandemia mediante el desarrollo de

herramientas tecnológicas basadas en el tratamiento de

categorías de datos personales especialmente protegidas,

como los datos sanitarios, lo que plantea importantes cues-

tiones desde la perspectiva de la privacidad y los derechos

digitales. El objetivo de este estudio es realizar un análisis

detallado de algunos elementos esenciales, necesarios para

lograr el difícil equilibrio entre la promoción de instrumen-

tos tecnológicos que contribuyan a controlar los efectos de

la COVID-19 aumentando los recursos disponibles para las

autoridades sanitarias, y la salvaguarda del derecho funda-

mental a la protección de datos personales.

Palabras clave: COVID-19; protección de datos personales;

privacidad; desarrollo tecnológico; autoridades sanitarias;

apps; temperatura; pasaportes inmunológicos.