COVID-19 Vaccine Tracking To Keep Focus on Data Privacy
COVID-19 Vaccine Tracking To Keep Focus on Data Privacy
Miriam Wugmeister spoke to Law360 for an article covering the questions companies have about how to handle and retain sensitive health information while monitoring COVID-19 vaccinations.
“The compromise we’ve reached with the retention of health questionnaires, testing, and temperature checks, we can’t do that with vaccine data, since the whole idea is that you need to know if a specific individual is vaccinated in order to get on an airplane or come back to a workplace,” Miriam said.
She added that during the past year, somewhat unanticipated tension has emerged between privacy professionals who have encouraged the quick disposal of such information and litigation-minded advisers who have advocated for holding onto it for longer to show the company has taken all reasonable steps to protect its staff and visitors, noting that companies are favoring an approach under which they screen individuals but don’t retain detailed results.
“The fear of litigation has come down a few notches, and the privacy issues have become more paramount,” Miriam said.
Read the full article.