Denmark’s Rejsekort app rollout paused over privacy error
The app version of Denmark’s transport card Rejsekort, launched earlier this year, will not be made available to new users at the current time after a privacy issue was detected.
An ongoing rollout of the app has been paused because it does not anonymise users’ location data, media Ingeniøren first reported.
While some 60,000 users have so far been given access to the app, it will not move any further in the immediate future.
The company that developed the app previously said that users’ location data was anonymous but has since stated this is not the case, according to the report.
Jens Willars, customer services director of the company which owns the app, Rejsekort & Rejseplan A/S, confirmed the issue and the subsequent pause on distribution.
Initially launched in April to a limited number of users, the Rejsekort app allows travellers on Danish public transport to swipe on their phone to activate a valid ticket for their journey, instead of swiping a physical card over sensors to check in and out.
Using the phone’s tracking function, the app automatically registers whether the journey is by bus, train, Metro or light rail; the start and end stations of the journey; and whether you changed between form of transport during the journey.
This removes the need to check in a second time if switching between bus and train (for example), as is the case with the physical Rejsekort.
It can also check out automatically or remind you to check out, using a “Smark Check-Out” function. This reduces the risk of overpaying a fare because you forgot to check out – a not-uncommon occurrence for users of the regular Rejsekort.
READ ALSO: How you can use DSB app to check in to public transport across Denmark
This function relates closely to the nature of the problem because the app tracks users between check-in and check-out, but continues to track them if they have not checked out until the automatic check-out kicks in at 4am the next day.
But – to simplify the technical explanation given by Ingeniøren – the tracking information has not been kept anonymous as was initially presented.
Willars told the publication that “we need this data for the app to work” but that the personal data is stored in a separate file to “pseudonymise” users.
The long-term solution will be to change the terms and conditions of the app and limit how long the data is stored, he said.
Data is stored for a certain amount of time to help with customers who report incorrect registrations and charges, he said.
No timeline was given for when the app will again be ready for distribution.
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An ongoing rollout of the app has been paused because it does not anonymise users’ location data, media Ingeniøren first reported.
While some 60,000 users have so far been given access to the app, it will not move any further in the immediate future.
The company that developed the app previously said that users’ location data was anonymous but has since stated this is not the case, according to the report.
Jens Willars, customer services director of the company which owns the app, Rejsekort & Rejseplan A/S, confirmed the issue and the subsequent pause on distribution.
Initially launched in April to a limited number of users, the Rejsekort app allows travellers on Danish public transport to swipe on their phone to activate a valid ticket for their journey, instead of swiping a physical card over sensors to check in and out.
Using the phone’s tracking function, the app automatically registers whether the journey is by bus, train, Metro or light rail; the start and end stations of the journey; and whether you changed between form of transport during the journey.
This removes the need to check in a second time if switching between bus and train (for example), as is the case with the physical Rejsekort.
It can also check out automatically or remind you to check out, using a “Smark Check-Out” function. This reduces the risk of overpaying a fare because you forgot to check out – a not-uncommon occurrence for users of the regular Rejsekort.
READ ALSO: How you can use DSB app to check in to public transport across Denmark
This function relates closely to the nature of the problem because the app tracks users between check-in and check-out, but continues to track them if they have not checked out until the automatic check-out kicks in at 4am the next day.
But – to simplify the technical explanation given by Ingeniøren – the tracking information has not been kept anonymous as was initially presented.
Willars told the publication that “we need this data for the app to work” but that the personal data is stored in a separate file to “pseudonymise” users.
The long-term solution will be to change the terms and conditions of the app and limit how long the data is stored, he said.
Data is stored for a certain amount of time to help with customers who report incorrect registrations and charges, he said.
No timeline was given for when the app will again be ready for distribution.
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