Employers must consider privacy protections as they roll out contact-tracing tools

Libbie Canter is quoted in Med City News regarding the privacy concerns for employers seeking to track employees in order to limit the spread of COVID-19. Ms. Canter says when it comes to contact tracing and location monitoring, companies should be cautious in the questions they ask and how much data they collect. She adds, “Companies need to think about not collecting more data than they reasonably need. Do you need precise geolocation? Is proximity sufficient?”

She notes that companies should think carefully about who has access to this data, when it will be deleted, and what notice or consent they will provide to employees. She says, “I do think there are some circumstances where employers would be able to condition returning to the workplace on the employee participating in some information sharing. That doesn’t mean that they have to consent to share anything and everything.”