News – Privacy Associates International LLC

The Democratic-led bill, which was introduced by Senators Blumenthal and Warner, as well as Representatives Eshoo, Schakowsky and DelBene, follows the May 10th introduction of a similar COVID-19 data protection bill by leading Senate Republicans. Although the bills are similarly broad in scope and substantively robust, they contain a few important differences.  Both the Democratic-led and the Republican-led COVID-19 privacy bills introduced so far are motivated by an urgent need to build public trust in the use of personal data to address the current pandemic. For example, recent research shows a marked lack of trust among the American population when it comes to their digital privacy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public Health Emergency Privacy Act:  https://assets.morningconsult.com/wp-uploads/2020/05/14150155/Public-Health-Emergency-Privacy-Act-As-Introduced.pdf

COVID–19 Consumer 4 Data Protection Act of 2020: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/A377AEEB-464E-4D5E-BFB8-11003149B6E0

Not enough is being done to engender trust in decisions made by facial recognition and biometrics systems, according to a pair of U.S. government researchers. Even though experts routinely are enlisted to explain to stakeholders including the public how these algorithms work, there are far fewer explanations for why software made a decision, write Johnathon Phillips and Mark Przybocki of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in an Arxiv.org paper.  https://www.biometricupdate.com/202005/face-recognition-systems-need-to-instill-trust-but-they-do-not-nist-researchers

United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Congressman Andy Levin (D-Mich.) introduced legislation for a federal contact tracing program to halt the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The lawmakers are calling for their legislation to be included in the next response package that passes Congress. The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore) and Tina Smith (D-Minn).

Coronavirus Containment Corps Act: https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL%20Coronavirus%20Containment%20Corps%20Act1.pdf