Health Information and Policing

At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic police across Ontario quietly gained access to a new database – a COVID-19 testing database, with the names, addresses, and dates of birth of Ontarians who have tested positive for the virus.

Such a measure should only be taken when clearly authorized by law and absolutely necessary given the particular circumstances. It is not clear how COVID-19 test results will assist first responders in protecting themselves and the public.

Police officers, like all first responders, must operate under the assumption that everyone they come into contact with is a potential active carrier. Infection control measures targeting only individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 will be ineffective at protecting frontline workers. Universal precautions are necessary.

In addition, according to the regulation and government statements the information that will be provided does not include the date that an individual tested positive. This means that old, outdated test results could incorrectly identify people as having COVID-19 when they have already recovered and are no longer contagious.

It is difficult to understand how first responders will effectively use testing information that is both incomplete and out of date. There is a real risk that using this database will create a false sense of security when first responders are interacting with individuals who have not been flagged, thus serving to create rather than mitigate danger.

Providing police officers with personal health information will have the greatest impacts on those communities that are already over-policed and marginalized. Black communities, Indigenous peoples, those with precarious housing, individuals living with addictions – these communities already face over-policing and numerous barriers to health-care. Many are at increased risk of contracting or suffering adverse health outcomes from COVID-19. Their access to necessary health services is only made more fraught when their personal health information is shared with the police.