London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

'Reckless': Privacy rights group lashes out at UK govt after it admits Covid-19 Test and Trace program didn't follow legal rules

'Reckless': Privacy rights group lashes out at UK govt after it admits Covid-19 Test and Trace program didn't follow legal rules

The UK government – facing a threat of court action – has conceded that its self-described "world beating" Covid-19 Test and Trace program has not been abiding by a crucial data protection legal requirement.

Following a legal challenge brought by Open Rights Group (ORG), the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has admitted that it has been running the Test and Trace program without a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). This is a requirement under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for projects that handle personal data.

Without such a legal safeguard, there is a risk of personal data protection breaches.

Ravi Naik, legal director of the new data rights agency AWO, who was instructed to act on behalf of ORG, said that the UK government has now "admitted Test and Trace was deployed unlawfully."

According to him, the initiative has been illegal ever since its launch on May 28."This is significant. It is a legal requirement to conduct an impact assessment before data processing takes place," he explained.

The UK government has not explicitly conceded that it has broken any privacy laws, but it has admitted operating without a DPIA. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care claimed the NHS program was committed to the "highest ethical and data governance standards."

They added that it was important to draw a distinction between the initiative itself being unlawful and the way it was processing NHS patients' data, which they say has been handled lawfully.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's administration insisted that there was "no evidence of data being used unlawfully." The DHSC made its admission after ORG threatened to take the government to court unless it agreed to carry out a DPIA immediately.

Jim Killock, ORG's executive director, hit out at the government, branding its behavior "reckless" in ignoring the legally-required safety step, and thereby had "endangered public health."

Killock suggested that mutual trust between the government and the public – a critical element in any successful fight against the deadly disease – had been undermined by operating a program without basic privacy safeguards.

The DHSC spokesperson would not confirm whether a report in the Sunday Times – which found Test and Trace staff were sharing patients' confidential data on various social media platforms – was evidence of data being used unlawfully.

The NHS Test and Trace system requires people who have tested positive for coronavirus to self-isolate and share personal details – such as home addresses and phone numbers – of those with whom they have come into close contact. Contact must have taken place within a nine-day timeframe, starting 48 hours before symptoms first appeared.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×