The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 and The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2022: equality impact assessment

Data protection and privacy

Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) and Privacy Notice (PN): these are created to ensure that all data is managed, handled, processed and destroyed in line with UK GDPR legislation, data protection laws and data ethics best practice as well as human rights legislation. The PN will support users to understand how their data is being used throughout these processes, emphasising protection of their data and ensuring government is being open and transparent. The Privacy Notice is already online and can be found on NHS Inform: Personal information we process, How we use your data, Your Rights. There is also an Easy Read Version.

Domestic App: within the NHS Scotland Covid Status App there is the function to access Covid Status Certification for domestic use. This only shows the QR code and the user's name can be hidden. When the QR code is read by the NHS Scotland Covid Check App it simply shows a green tick or 'Certificate not valid'. This mitigates against disproportionally engaging an individual's right to privacy (Article 8 ECHR: right to respect for private and family life). Individuals can create separate profiles for international and domestic use using different email addresses. If an individual wishes to use a different name domestically, and has photo ID in that name, they can create one account for international travel, which aligns with the details on their passport, and one account for domestic use, which aligns with their preferred name. The App can only host one account at a time, so if the user has two accounts under different names they will need to log in and log out to access the desired account.

Biometric identification software: Jumio, the company providing the software, state that their software has equal rates of success across all demographics with a matching rate of 91%. For the other 9% there is a manual check by Jumio staff to verify the user's identity. Work is underway to provide an alternative to biometric identification to register for the app. Work is also underway to add other forms of identity to the IDV scheme.