Data From RI’s New Coronavirus App Can Be Shared With Third Parties, Raises Concerns
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
On Tuesday, Governor Gina Raimondo rolled out a new app — CRUSH COVID RI — that she is asking all Rhode Islanders to download to their phones.
The app is a contact tracing app and collects a series of tracking data.
The RI ACLU issued a statement on a range of concerns about potential privacy issues relating to the app.
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Raimondo in unveiling the app said, "CRUSH COVID RI - I love the title. It is a one-stop app. It will take you five seconds (to download). I am very excited about - it is a tool that will really help."
"The app was developed with Infosys," said Raimondo. Infosys is an Indian company that opened an office in Providence in 2017.
Raimondo said, “The key thing is the location diary. The technology tracks any location the user is located for ten minutes or more… it is stored on your phone only. And deleted after 20 days.”
"Further it is completely your choice. No one is going to force you...I am asking you to do it. Please download the app and asking you to activate the location diary. It only works if everyone is using it. We can quickly identify ‘hot spots.”
Third-Party Usage Allowed
When downloading the app users are asked to agree to a range of terms. One of the state’s terms allows the sharing of data with unidentified third parties.
“We will never sell you information, but we may share it securely with authorized third parties working on behalf of the Rhode Island Department of Health to provide COVID-19 services to you. We also share information we are legally obligated to do so,” states the CRUSH COVID RI app.
Raimondo has unveiled a number of out-of-state tech partners for the past three months -- Salesforce, Care.com, Nextdoor, and others. It is unclear if those partners will have access to the data.
The terms state that “If consent is given, we may collect certain information from our users, such as geolocation, symptoms, and location history.”
The broad scope of the privacy terms raises concerns about the lack of limitations of data sharing and location tracking.
The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) tells GoLocal that RIDOH currently provides access to police and other first responders so that they know if they are responding to an emergency that they are aware of the infection.
“We have a portal in Rhode Island that police and fire dispatchers can access in order to run addresses of positive cases prior to dispatching police and fire to scenes. This portal only has address information,” said Joseph Wendelken, spokesperson for the DOH in an email to GoLocal.
“It does not address anyone by name. People who can access the portal have to sign data sharing agreements regarding confidentiality, and the portal cannot be used for any law enforcement purposes. It can only be used to make first responders aware of a potential exposure, so they can proceed accordingly,” according to Wendelken.
The ACLU’s concerns are not new. The organization raised privacy concerns about RIDOH sharing data with law enforcement — these concerns were voiced before the app was announced.
On May 1, the ACLU wrote in a letter to RIDOH Director Nicole Alexander Scott, “We realize this information is being provided with good intentions, and (while ultimately not much of a privacy protection) that it includes only addresses, not names.”
“However, it can still easily lead to the unnecessary 'outing' of COVID-l9 residents, cast unnecessary suspicion on occupants who do not have the disease, and lead to discriminatory conduct against COVID-l9 patients by landlords, neighbors and others. In certain instances, it could discourage some individuals in distress from calling for medical assistance or getting tested in the first place," write the ACLU.
"Sharing this information with law enforcement agencies can have an especially harmful effect in marginalized communities and, in particular, Black and Latino neighborhoods. As you are well aware, these communities have been hardest hit by the disease, and they are also the neighborhoods where relationships with law enforcement are already often marked by distrust and fear. This wariness may only grow with the knowledge that this personal medical information is being shared with police officers,” the ACLU's letter continued.
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