We've been wearing masks for many months now and it's really getting long. It seems like it's only going to be for a short time, at least when we're outside. However, it's worth saying that citizens have behaved very well with this "mandatory" daily accessory. After so much time, awareness is still winning over fatigue and most everyone is wearing them. There's always a few clueless people, whether voluntarily or not, who don't. Then there are people who, due to their personal situation, don't need to wear them because it can do them more harm than good.
This group of people has every right to this exemption for health reasons. However, since people here like to play the fool and think they are smarter than anyone else, there are those who claim that they don't wear a mask because they don't have to, that they can go without one. So what? We have to believe it. Or not?
This situation, due to having to allow access to indoor spaces, public or private, has generated enough confusion for the Catalan Data Protection Authority to have had to speak out. Until recently, everyone would have recommended that the person in charge of a business or facility not request any sensitive personal data under any circumstances, unless it was strictly necessary for their activity and with all the required control measures. Knowing this situation, if someone without a mask was questioned about it before entering an indoor space, the normal thing to do was to say that for health reasons that are not worth explaining in order to preserve their privacy, they were exempt.
Well, that has changed with the pandemic. The Catalan Data Protection Authority has determined that it is lawful for establishments, public and private, to require people who want to access them without wearing a mask to provide documentation proving some circumstance that exempts them from this obligation, even if it contains personal data that is considered sensitive. The general prevention rules imposed by health authorities to deal with COVID-19 have priority. Therefore, it is legitimate to require this accreditation with personal information.
Not allowing entry to someone who refuses to show this documentation, the typical right of admission, is not discrimination. In these cases, the main obligation of the person responsible for the space is the health of workers and other visitors and therefore must ensure compliance with the mandatory use of the mask within their facility or establishment. Things that do change with the pandemic.
