Joseph J. Lazzarotti and Jason C. Gavejian of JacksonLewis write:
As organizations work feverishly to return to business in many areas of the country, they are mobilizing to meet the myriad of challenges for providing safe environments for their workers, customers, students, patients, and visitors. Chief among these challenges are screening for COVID19 symptoms, observing social distancing, contact tracing, and wearing masks. Fortunately, innovators are rising to meet this need, developing a range of technologies – wearables, apps, devices, kiosks, AI, etc. – all designed to support these efforts. But, for many organizations, the question is what technologies are out there and what should they be thinking about in deciding to adopt one or more of them.
Wading through the wide variety of COVID19-related technologies can be like scrolling through your cable provider’s movie guide – lots of time spent, not sure what to choose. So, to help you get a quick, bird’s eye view of some of the kinds of technologies being developed and which may be available, please see our table of “Selected COVID19 Distancing, Screening, Contact Tracing, and Other Technologies” (Table)*.
Read more on Workplace Privacy, Data Management & Security Report
Paul Karlsgodt and Justin Donoho of BakerHostetler are also discussing some of the privacy litigation over existing technologies like cookies and biometrics, but they also explore litigation over newly emerging technologies. They write, in part:
Prospects for Litigation Over COVID-19 Tracking Technologies
One could hope that in the interest of banding together to fight a common enemy, plaintiffs’ attorneys would shy away from filing privacy lawsuits against companies that develop tracking technologies intended to aid in the fight against COVID-19. However, history suggests that absent legislative immunity in some form, plaintiffs’ attorneys will be watching closely for any company that develops customer data tracking technologies. At least one U.S. senator has warned that the legal landscape is unlikely to change anytime soon, while lawmakers are busy tackling other issues during the pandemic.
This means that any company that pursues technological solutions to trace and isolate the virus (and allow us to get back to some semblance of life as we knew it) is on its own in protecting itself from the privacy and other legal implications flowing from the technology.
Read more on Data Privacy Monitor.