German data privacy regulator probes Apple Store temperature checks
A regional German data protection office reportedly has concerns about the privacy risks posed by customer temperature checks at Apple Stores that recently reopened in the country.

The Apple Schildergasse location in Cologne, Germany.
Apple officially reopened its 15 brick-and-mortar retail locations in Germany on May 11 and in accordance with the company's coronavirus policies, it is checking the temperatures of customers before they enter the store.
The Hessian data protection agency has launched a probe to determine whether the temperature checks violate European Union privacy regulations, according to a report from Bloomberg Law.
Hesse is a state in Germany where retail locations such as Apple Grosse Bockenheimer Strasse, in Frankfurt, and Apple MTZ, in Sulzbach, are located.
There aren't any results from the probe, but the Hessian office is reportedly coordinating with other regional data protection agencies in Germany.

The Apple Schildergasse location in Cologne, Germany.
Apple officially reopened its 15 brick-and-mortar retail locations in Germany on May 11 and in accordance with the company's coronavirus policies, it is checking the temperatures of customers before they enter the store.
The Hessian data protection agency has launched a probe to determine whether the temperature checks violate European Union privacy regulations, according to a report from Bloomberg Law.
Hesse is a state in Germany where retail locations such as Apple Grosse Bockenheimer Strasse, in Frankfurt, and Apple MTZ, in Sulzbach, are located.
There aren't any results from the probe, but the Hessian office is reportedly coordinating with other regional data protection agencies in Germany.
Comments
What are they doing? Taking temperature rectally?
It's likely concerns about if the temperatures are being recorded and linked to a person, also concerns on how customers will be treated/reacted to if they have a fever.
They were pretty brutal.
I don't have an issue with any stores taking the temps of anybody who wishes to enter.
This is not mandatory. If anybody doesn't wish to have their temp taken, then don't fucking enter. Nobody is forcing anybody to visit any Apple store. Go find an Android store that doesn't take temps and visit that instead. Have fun.
What privacy concerns are we talking about here?
The privacy of an infected person to not have their sickness revealed and for that sick person to be allowed to enter and to infect and potentially kill others with their nasty germs?
Shop somewhere else.
In short: Apple are demanding customers submit to a medical procedure that is not fit for purpose and enforcing that by withholding service to people who don't. Which is forbidden under European law.
Fines are not small either. They may run up to 4% of the global turnover in the previous year. So Apple would do well to reconsider.
I don’t think so!
Besides the fact that technically speaking a global entity is now forcing you to undergo a medical procedure to be allowed to exercise your rights for support etc, which was part of the deal when you purchased your equipment?
You can twist and turn the words back and forth as much as you want, but the fact remains that here's a corporate giant that sets the precedent that they can force individuals to undergo medical procedures (in a way that's easily linked to your person) for you to gain access to what a lawyer easily could argue came as part of your purchase; or even to for you to gain access to what according to the law is more a public than a private space.
If this isn't checked early on you'll soon find yourself with your medical data linked to your id/person, as aggregated, de-anonymized, and monetised by the same people doing that today with your physical membership cards, and your online habits (as tracked by cookies/websites/advertising networks).
By now, you should know how Apple makes a living, and it’s not on monetizing specific personal information. Go visit Facebook and Google for that...
While I am not a Hessian, I am from Germany and privacy rights are pretty strong here.
The point is: Is a store allowed to test if a person has fever (does not mean an infection with Corona) and can this persons be treated differently?
But my questions remain:
1. Does everyone who has the corona virus have a fever? If not, then testing like this only gives a false sense of security. No, it's not better than nothing. It's better to take precautions with everyone, such as requiring masks and that people maintain a distance.
2. How is it an invasion of privacy to check someone's temperature if his or her identity is not given? If that's the case, then looking at someone is an invasion of privacy too since you're gaining information about him or her (appearance, height, weight, type of clothes, etc., etc.) without his or her consent.