French Minister Says ‘We Will Remember’ Apple Privacy Refusal

(Bloomberg) --

Apple Inc. has dug in its heels in a standoff with the French government over the merits of protecting users' privacy versus giving the state access to information in efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19.

A French manager for the Cupertino, California-based company declined the government's request to modify privacy and security settings for apps that use Apple devices' Bluetooth technology on Saturday, a spokesman for Digital Minister Cedric O said. A representative for Apple declined to comment.

“Apple could have helped us make it work even better. They didn't do it for a reason that is beyond me. I think it's regrettable,” O said on a BFM Business television program Tuesday. “A company that has never been in a better economic shape is not helping the government to fight the crisis. We will remember that.”

The politician's punch comes as the French state plans to start tests for its application next week on about 100 volunteers. It will expand the tests before an official launch planned for June 2, O's office said.

France had previously aimed to deploy the app by May 11, when the country will begin to lift restrictions on movement. But the tool wasn't ready and Parliament has demanded a right to vote on the app to debate whether programs that send data on users' locations and contacts to the government are a privacy violation. The vote may be scheduled for the week of May 25.

Apple and Alphabet Inc.‘s Google are jointly developing a framework for public health apps that keeps data on users' devices. People who have come into contact with those who have self identified as having Covid-19 will get an alert.

While that approach is gaining popularity with governments, including Germany's, some countries like France and the U.K. want to be able to send the data to their health systems and notify users themselves when they come into contact with someone who's been exposed.

French privacy watchdog chief Marie-Laure Denis said Tuesday that CNIL will monitor the app to “ensure that only a minimum of private data is collected.” She advised the state to avoid “intrusive and useless” data collection and asked for more information about who would have access to the databases.