COVID- 19: Mobile Application for Consultations

Using the latest technologies to deal with the pandemic, the Argentine Ministry of Health (the "MoH", after its acronym in Spanish) and the Public Innovation Secretariat of the National Ministers’ Cabinet Office (the "Secretariat"), have developed a self-evaluation mobile application for COVID-19 symptoms, named "Covid19-Ministry of Health", to which any individual (the "User") can access both in its mobile version that can be downloaded using Android (it does not include iOS so far) and in its MoH website version, accessible through the following link: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/coronavirus/app (the "App").

The App works by requesting the User to provide different information, including those related to the User's sensitive personal data, such as body temperature, respiratory condition, current situation and/or health records, cough or sore throat, pregnancy, among other items.

Then, the User must complete a form with additional personal data, such as their age, ID number, email, telephone number, address, and location. The User must declare and guarantee that all the personal data provided in the registration process is authentic, complete and updated. In line with the world debate regarding the possible implication of the individual’s privacy and personal data, the App’s "Terms and Conditions" establishes that the Secretariat complies with the provisions of Personal Data Protection Law No. 25,326 (the "LPDP "), and its complementary regulations.

Once the User completes the data and submits the form, the Secretariat analyzes the User’s data and symptoms, and if the information is compatible with a possible case of COVID-19, it sends an email to the User with the results, recommendations and/or instructions for the User to be attended at the nearest healthcare center, if necessary.

The App's aim is to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, inform everyone about it, and help prevent the Argentine health system from becoming overloaded. In addition, the App offers real time advice and news to Users. The Secretariat should follow this purpose when processing the User's personal data, remembering that the LPDP indicates that the personal data must be destroyed or eliminated once they are no longer necessary for the effects for which they were collected.

In accordance with the provisions of its "Terms and Conditions", the App will also incorporate a map with geo-location of the healthcare centers near to the User. Likewise, the Secretariat may include functionalities in the App that will allow them to make complaints about non-compliance with emergency regulations, receive online or audiovisual assistance, etc.

The App is also included in the Global Privacy Assembly Executive Committee statement, in the Public Information Access Agency recommendations for the processing of personal data related to COVID-19, in the Editorial published by the Director of the Public Information Access Agency, and in the provisions of the Ministers’ Cabinet Office Administrative Decision No. 431/2020, which expressly established that all Public Sector entities "must transfer, assign, or exchange with each other and under the supervision of the ´General Coordination Unit of the Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention of Public Health Events of International Importance´, the data and information that, due to their competences, are in their files, registers, databases, with the sole purpose of carrying out useful actions for the protection of public health" in order to fight COVID-19. For the same purposes, "The National Migrations Department (...) must transfer or give data or information to the provincial jurisdictions and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires", all this "observing at all times the existing provisions regarding the protection of personal and sensitive data as established by Law No. 25,326 and with regard to the protection of fiscal secrecy in Law No. 11,683 (c.t. 1978) and its amendments, and may not be disclosed, transmitted, assigned or disseminated outside of the bodies" of the Public Sector mentioned above.

Likewise, the day after the App was launched, the Ministers’ Cabinet Office issued the Administrative Decision No. 432/2020 with immediate effect (03.24.20), requesting the mandatory use of the App for those individuals that had entered the country in the last fourteen (14) days, and for those who do so in the future. In the case of minors or disabled people, the parents or guardians in charge must complete the data required on their behalf.

In this regard, the Argentine Migration Department is empowered to require those who return from abroad to use the App prior to entering the country, and must inform them of its Terms and Conditions. In those cases in which the Users adhere to the App and are unable to complete the form due to technical issues at the time of entering the country, they must complete the form within twelve (12) hours from said entry. Those who return from abroad and agree to use the App must keep it installed and active for a minimum period of fourteen (14) calendar days from its activation. The Argentine Migrations Department may collect the data that arise from the App’s use, which must be treated in accordance with the provisions of the LPDP.

Likewise, those persons who have entered the country during the last fourteen (14) days prior to the entry into force of the Administrative Decision are invited to download the App in the shortest possible time and proceed to complete the form in its entirety.

On March 26, 2020, the Argentine Migration Department issued Regulation No. 1771/2020, implementing Administrative Decision No. 432/2020, and establishing that those who return to the country must, for a minimum period of fourteen (14) days counted from their entrance, adhere and use the App.

Finally, it is fundamental to highlight that the recommendations, guidelines, or suggestions that can be found in the App do not constitute a medical opinion nor should they be used to make a diagnosis or initiate medical treatment without the consultation of a health professional, and are exclusively aimed at informing everyone about COVID-19, clarifying that in no case can it be interpreted as providing exhaustive information.