On December 7, 2023, the Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) ruled that checks of the “čTečka” app during the coronavirus pandemic were contrary to the law. The verdict, publicized at the end of November, pointed out that the inspecting party could access sensitive personal health data.
The “čTečka” application was launched in June 2021 by the Ministry of Health, then led by Adam Vojtěch (for ANO). The app had over 1.4 million downloads. It was intended to work with another application, “Tečka,” to verify the infection-free status of users when entering selected facilities.
The complainant argued at the court to abolish the extraordinary measure of the Ministry of Health from the end of 2021. He criticized that by proving infection-free status, there is an intrusion into the rights to privacy protection, as the visitor or viewer as a customer had to share information about their health status with the controllers.
The complainant also questioned that as a customer of hairdressers and catering services, he was obliged to check his health status data, thus inappropriately interfering with the right to privacy protection.
The dispute started over an aquapark. The proposal described similar intrusions when accommodation services were to be provided to him and his family. They were denied access to the aquapark.
The NSS sided with the complainant, stating that the order was contrary to the law. According to the verdict, it must have been clear to the ministry that the inspecting person is being granted access to personal data contained in the certificate of the inspected person.