August 10, 2020 - California has long been considered a leader in privacy protection laws. Now, these very laws that prohibit government agencies and commercial 
organizations from obtaining intimate details of our lives may inhibit the ability to effectively “contact trace,” considered to be a critical tool in tamping down the spread of Covid-19.
Assembly Bill 660, now being considered by the Senate, attempts to balance the right of the public to access relevant information about contact tracing efforts by public health entities while protecting the privacy rights of individuals whose data is collected for contact tracing purposes. Specifically, the bill [as its most recent amended wording on 7/14] “…would prohibit data collected, received, or prepared for purposes of contact tracing from being shared with any entity other than a public health entity. The bill would prohibit a law enforcement official from engaging in contact tracing.”
Sounds terrific as it reduces the chances of law enforcement to abuse any information so obtained. However, in rural counties such as Mariposa, with a population density of something like 12 people/ sq. mile, the various agencies of government work hand-in-hand during emergencies to supplement one another. The County certainly is not in a financial position to hire additional PH Dept. staff let alone train them. Meanwhile, we have a Sheriff’s Dept. that is highly familiar with the most isolated regions of the county and how to contact individuals who are beyond the range of modern technology (i.e. phones, computers).
The BOS will be considering a letter on August 11th addressed to the author of the bill, Assemblyman Marc Levine with copies to Senators Jackson and Borgeas as well as Assemblyman Bigelow advising that “Given our limited staff and resources, the use of law enforcement has been the only way to keep our county in containment….Law enforcement officers who are already on staff, familiar with emergency operations and trained in protocols for contact tracing are a key reason we have been able to contain the pandemic …” The letter urges that counties and cities be left with the power to decide if law enforcement be utilized in contact tracing and thus indicates they are opposed to the wording of the bill as currently written.
It is important that citizens who feel strongly about this, either agreeing that law enforcement be kept out of the contract tracing process, even in small rural counties such as Mariposa, or who believe that the wording be changed to leave this decision entirely at the local level or perhaps building in a process for exceptions for rural counties, let their elected representatives know how they feel. Contact information for all state officials is easy to find via various online search engines and these days they all accept online comments.
Personally, I think that keeping law enforcement out of the contract tracing data loop is good, but that a process for exceptions in small rural counties should be added to the bill’s wording, with a caveat that a written procedure guaranteeing the destruction of all such data be included in the waiver process.
Dale Silverman
Coulterville, CA
