- The measure legitimizing the use of geolocation on mobiles has been in force since Sunday. The Government of Sánchez has pointed out that the objective is to determine the main routes of coronavirus contamination, but it also collects points that appear to be oriented towards population control.
The Spanish Government will analyse citizens’ movements through the geolocation of mobile phones. The measure, which allows it, has been legalised and has entered into force together with Sunday 29 March, according to the Official State Gazette (BOE).
The Government may review all movements that have taken place since the entry into force of the state of alarm in Spain. Moreover, the measure also makes it possible to analyse the movements carried out before the state of alarm enters into force. The tracking of citizenship will be made possible through telephone operators, who will make the data of their customers available to the Government.
After data collection, the Ministry of Health plans to create an application that allows users to access it. Through the application the individual with coronavirus symptoms will be allowed to perform self-evaluation and based on it will be given advice and instructions.
A measure geared towards citizen control?
According to the BOE, the measure aims at the health of the population and aims to identify the main routes of contamination of the virus to develop a strategy to fight coronavirus. However, the document contains a number of points, among which there are some that seem to be oriented towards the control of citizenship.
In the specifications on the application you want to create you can read the following: “The application will allow you to know the geolocation of the user to ensure that it is in the autonomous community in which it is located.” If, in the face of this measure, it has begun to ask for explanations, such as EH Member Bildu Jon Iñarritu:
Daukazu behar dugu, ez? pic.twitter.com/oFdQvfvQWG
— Jon Inarritu (@JonInarritu) March 29, 2020