KOCHI: The Kerala high court on Friday disposed of a PIL questioning the collection of call data records (CDR) of Covid-19 patients by the state police for contact tracing, but made it clear that the state government should ensure only the tower location details are used and confidentiality is strictly maintained.
After considering opposition leader Ramesh Chennithalas PIL challenging the DGP's August 11 circular to senior officers to go ahead with the proposal to collect CDRs, the division bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly accepted polices undertaking that the data would be used only for ascertaining the tower locations of Covid patients.
On the petitioners plea to implead telecom service providers in the case, the court said the retrieval of CDRs should be seen and considered in the light of the daily spike in Covid-19 cases and the peculiar circumstances the state has found itself in because of that.
The government had informed the court through a statement filed on behalf of the DGP that the police were only finding out the tower location of Covid patients and those suspected of having contracted the virus. Tower details are essential for creating route maps for effective contact tracing, the government contended.
The statement menRead More – Source
