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Contact tracing needs to balance public health benefits with privacy: Trudeau

Apr 29, 2020 | 1:02 PM

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is leaving the door open to using digital technology to limit the spread of COVID-19 through contact tracing.

But he says there is a need to balance the public health benefits of such initiatives with protecting the privacy of Canadians.

Countries such as South Korea and Singapore have used cellphones and other digital technology to track people’s movements and warn about potential contacts with individuals who have COVID-19 to slow the spread of the virus.

A number of provinces have since suggested they are looking at voluntary programs to conduct contact tracing, which is usually performed by public health officials.