Coronavirus tracking apps must be 'voluntary' and 'time-limited', EU insists

We should demand this in US with Google, Apple abd other providers, otherwise it will never end

As Europe looks towards loosening lockdown restrictions - containing new outbreaks remains critical.

Mobile phone tracking applications are part of the solution to monitor the spread, but it means our privacy is invaded.

"We need to be very clear on whether we want this and whether It is acceptable or not," says Patrick Breyer (MEP, Greens/EFA) from the German pirate party. "There is a lack of respect for fundamental rights on the side of the EU Commission and I think that they need to get their act together and stand up for our rights because there is no contradiction between effectively addressing this crisis and respecting fundamental rights."

To address to all these concerns, the European Commission is unveiling coronavirus app tracking guidelines on Thursday.

"It is fundamental that the installation and the use of an app is voluntary,"Johannes Bahrke, Spokesperson of the European Commission told us ahead of the launch. "We want to ensure citizens that they can trust in these apps, that they respect security, privacy, data protection and they are effective so that people use them."

The EU's Industry chief Thierry Breton released a statement to the same effect saying:

"Strong privacy safeguards are a pre-requisite for the uptake of these apps, and therefore their usefulness. While we should be innovative and make the best use of technology in fighting the pandemic, we will not compromise on our values and privacy requirements.”

Privacy concerns have been front-and-centre in the discussions around COVID-19. In the public debate, the role of privacy professionals is important.

"We can look to the legacy from 9/11 for example, where a number of security measures were put in place and those who are standing today as we travel globally," explains Paul Jordan, Managing Director Europe – IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals).

"One of the big questions is how long these measures will be in place and also once those measures come to an end, what will happen to data that have been collected," says Jordan.

https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/16/coronavirus-tracking-apps-must-be-voluntary-and-time-limited-eu-insists

UK food firm charters plane to fly in Romanians to help with harvest

Farmers across Europe have complained of having to either throw away their harvests or leave it to rot in the field because of the coronavirus lockdowns.

Confinement has meant losing their normal clients, like restaurants who have closed down, or not having seasonal workers to harvest their crops.

Air Charter Services told Euronews on Thursday that it has flown 2,000 eastern European harvesters across Europe since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak.

One of the latest will arrive at Stansted Airport, near London, around 5 pm local time on Thursday with scores of Romanians onboard.

"There will be health checks at both ends and the middle seat of the middle row will be kept empty to ensure a form of social distancing," it said

Thirteen of the 14 flights it has operated have flown into Germany.

A further five or six more charter flights to the UK are currently being discussed, Air Charter Services added.

The company confirmed that G's Fresh had chartered the Stansted flight but declined to divulge who it was in discussion with for the other flights and who was behind the German charters.

"G's Fresh" is one of the largest fresh food producers in the UK with farms across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. On its website, it states that they employ around 2,500 seasonal workers during the busy period from April to November.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) raised the alarm over the impact COVID-19 could have on food security in mid-March warning of disruptions to the supply chain the longer the pandemic lasts.

The British and French ministries of agriculture have both called on furloughed people to work the fields.

Concordia, a UK charity placing volunteers in work placements, has launched a Feed The Nation initiative to mitigate the labour shortage faced by UK farms. It said on Tuesday that it has received thousands of applications for the minimum-wage roles

https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/16/uk-food-firm-charters-plane-to-fly-in-romanians-to-help-with-harvest

Coronavirus in Europe: Hunters and gamekeepers helped police enforce lockdown in France

Macron is a freak

French hunters and gamekeepers have been requisitioned by regional authorities to help the police enforce the rules of the French lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic.

The operation was held for one weekend before being cancelled due to their "thin legal basis", authorities said on Thursday.

They were requisitioned by the préfecture of Seine-et-Marne, an area south east of Paris, to "prevent and signal to the armed forces" any infraction to local lockdown rules, according to a decree released by the préfecture.

Hunters and gamekeepers were requisitioned at weekends only, operating on 3-4 April. A similar operation planned for the Easter weekend (11 to 13 April) was cancelled by the préfecture on Thursday.

"Due to their thin legal basis, the decrees have been removed and the operation will not be renewed in the coming weekends," the Seine-et-Marne préfecture said in a statement.

"The word 'hunter' was inappropriate," the prefect for Seine-et-Marne, Thierry Coudert, explained to Euronews. "They were sworn-in employees of the National Hunting Federation."

"Private hunters and gamekeepers whose name is listed in the present document are requisitioned", the préfecture's decree read.

Gamekeepers and hunters were requisitioned to receive orders from the French National Forest Office or the local gendarmerie and police, the decree said.

https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/09/coronavirus-in-europe-hunters-and-gamekeepers-helped-police-enforce-lockdown-in-france

Italian woman fined for taking her tortoise for a stroll

Italians have used pigs, rabbits and now a tortoise to try to evade lockdown rules

I can see their point, taking a tortoise for a walk, whats the point Kek

An Italian woman has been fined €400 for taking her tortoise for a walk.

Police challenged the 60-year-old woman when they saw her strolling, very slowly, along a pavement in Rome.

She insisted that her pet had just as much need of exercise as a dog. The officers dismissed that argument and issued her with the fine.

The woman, from the city’s Centocelle district, reluctantly scooped up her pet and returned home after being stopped on Easter Monday.

"She said she was taking the tortoise for a walk because it needed some sunshine. That was her excuse, at least," Major Nunzio Carbone, a

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/16/italian-woman-fined-taking-tortoise-stroll/