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IPFS News Link • Pandemic

Politico: Kushner's Team Seeks Nat'l COVID-19 Surveillance System

• https://www.technocracy.news, BY: ADAM CANCRYN

Critics worry about a Patriot Act for health care, raising concerns about patient privacy and civil liberties.

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner's task force has reached out to a range of health technology companies about creating a national coronavirus surveillance system to give the government a near real-time view of where patients are seeking treatment and for what, and whether hospitals can accommodate them, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions.

The proposed national network could help determine which areas of the country can safely relax social-distancing rules and which should remain vigilant. But it would also represent a significant expansion of government use of individual patient data, forcing a new reckoning over privacy limits amid a national crisis.

Health privacy laws already grant broad exceptions for national security purposes. But the prospect of compiling a national database of potentially sensitive health information has prompted concerns about its impact on civil liberties well after the coronavirus threat recedes, with some critics comparing it to the Patriot Act enacted after the 9/11 attacks.


www.universityofreason.com/a/29887/KWADzukm