Covid-19: Pandemic success turns controversial in Kerala over a data deal

Opposition parties, led by the Congress, are crying foul because the state tied up with US-based Sprinklr, a citizen & customer experience management firm, to collate and manage the Covid-19 data

Kerala, which reported on January 30 the first Covid-19 positive case in the country and was one of the states with the highest number of positive cases initially, seems to have flattened the curve with fewer infected patients against the number of patients recovered.

While many have complimented the state government for its prompt and effective management of the pandemic, opposition parties, led by the Congress, are crying foul because the state tied up with US-based Sprinklr, a citizen & customer experience management (CXM) firm, to collate and manage the Covid-19 data without supposedly following the protocol, compromising the privacy of the citizens.
 

The state government refuted the allegations, stating that the company, which offers its service to the World Health Organization, is run by a person from Kerala, its Software as a Service (SaaS) tool is offered free, and the data is stored in centres within the country.
 

The United Democratic Front (UDF), led by the Congress, according to local reports, is looking at escalating the matter, with the elections to the assembly scheduled for next year.
 

Ramesh Chennithala, leader of the Opposition in the assembly and a Congress leader, alleged that the Covid-19 related data collected across the state were going into the server of “marketing and PR (public relations) firm” Sprinklr, which was involved in the election campaign of US President Donald Trump in 2016.
 

The personal data of 175,000 people, including the Covid-19 patients and those under home isolation in the state, is being compromised, he alleged.
 

Health care workers are gathering the data through house visits and 41 questions soliciting details of existing chronic and serious diseases of the people under home quarantine.
 

The state government did not follow the protocol in such a deal, he alleged. No global tender was floated prior to selecting the company and the legal department was not consulted. He also said Sprinklr had no experience of health care data management and was sued earlier for data theft.
 

“This is pure business in times of Corona. This scam should be stopped at once,” he said on his Twitter account on April 13, the day the number of patients recovered overtook the number of those under treatment.
 

During the week, the opposition party sharpened its criticism against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government even as the latter was sighing a relief over the first signs of success in its fight against the pandemic.
 

Chennithala on April 16 said the data collected till then would be worth Rs 200 crore.
 

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who heads the IT department, responded to the allegation, stating Sprinklr was not a PR company but a SaaS firm that offered its service to the World Health Organization (WHO). Non-Resident Keralite Ragy Thomas founded the company and offered his service free, considering the health of his parents and other elderly people in the state. The service is free from April to September, after which they will be chargeable. Since it was a measure on a war-footing and there was no money involved, the state government went ahead with the deal.
 

The data was stored in Sprinklr’s servers temporarily since the state had to develop the capabilities to keep them. Plans are to move it to the server of the state-run Centre for Digital Imaging Technology (C-DIT), and Sprinklr will be offering SaaS capabilities. The government released the documents related to the deal, including the order form, master service agreement, service level agreement, and non-disclosure agreement for data security.
 

The IT secretary, meanwhile, came forward, taking responsibility for the deal and received flak from the opposition.
 

The IT department said it was collecting data on a large scale from field workers and various platforms including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, emails, and phone calls, and analysing them for a quick response. Developing its own tools will take time and Sprinklr’s SaaS applications were customised to suit the state's requirements.
 

The purchase order with Sprinklr was signed on April 2 and is effective from March 25. It is a standard order form the company follows internationally. The assignment ends on September 24 or the end of the pandemic, whichever is earlier.
 

The BJP has approached Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, stating that the deal is against the interests of the state and violates the privacy of the citizens. The state government has entered into the deal without approval from the central government or the Indian Council of Medical Research.