Panel to examine if privacy of personal, sensitive data of COVID-19 patients protected

Amid opposition charges, the Kerala government has constituted a two-member committee to examine whether the privacy of personal and sensitive data of COVID-19 patients from the state has been protected under an agreement entered by it with a US-based IT firm.

The panel headed by former Special IT Secretary M Madhavan Nambiar and former health secretary Rajeev Sadanandan, will also ascertain whether adequate procedures were followed while finalising the arrangements with the private company, Sprinklr.

The Opposition Congress has been levelling charges that the collection of data by the U.S firm violated the fundamental rights of the patients

In its order, state government said it had initiated steps to set up a Data Analytics platform to integrate data from various sources available in the government to meet the "exigency of a massive and unprecedented surge of epidemic".

 

The committee will also examine whether deviations, if any, are fair, justified and reasonable considering the extraordinary and critical situation faced by the state, it said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday asked the state government to file its reply by April 24 on a plea seeking to quash its contract with the US- based firm.

Expressing concern over the confidentiality of the citizen's data processed by a third party, the court sought to know why the sanction of the law department was not taken before finalising the agreement.

The court hailed the state government's fight against COVID-19, but said it is concerned about data confidentiality.

The government informed the court that the agreement with Sprinklr has safeguards for data protection "as per standard practices of software as a service model."

The ward-level committees, set up by the government for the anti-coronavirus fight, collect information of those under home isolation, the elderly and those at the risk of the disease, using a questionnaire and later uploads it on the server of the private agency.