Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], Aug 13 (ANI): The collection of call detail records (CDR) of COVID-19 patients in Kerala for contact tracing is a violation of constitutional rights of individuals, Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said.

Chennithala's statement came after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday informed that the state police is collecting the call details records (CDR) of COVID-19 patients for contact tracing to arrest the spread of viral disease.

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"The recent notification of the State DGP regarding the collection of CDR of the COVID patients is against the article 21 of the India Constitution and against the Telegraph Act which has been passed by the Parliament," said Chennithala.

"How can the State Government and the DGP collect the CDR of COVID-19 patients? The Chief Minister is justifying that. It is infringing personal data protection which is highly necessary in our country. Also, the privacy of an individual is more important than anything else," he added.

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The fundamental rights of a citizen are also equally important. So, the collection of CDR by the police, in Kerala will definitely lead to anarchy, the opposition leader added.

Kerala police are using the contact-tracing strategy to determine how many people came in contact with the COVID-19 positive patients and whether these people are showing any symptoms of the disease.

Addressing a press meet, Chief Minister Pinrayi Vijayan rejected the concerns about this move intruding into the privacy of citizens and clarified that there will be no intrusion into the patient's privacy. (ANI)

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