Tl;dr
While most of the public’s attention remains targeted at the Central Government’s push to drive adoption of the Aarogya Setu app, we must remain vigilant when it comes to state level uses of health data during COVID-19 as well. The controversy surrounding the contract between the Government of Kerala and Sprinklr Inc. is being addressed by the Kerala High Court in the ongoing matter of Balu Gopalakrishnan and Ors. v. State of Kerala and Ors. The main questions raised pertaining to there being no safeguards against the commercial and unauthorized use of the health data of the citizens of Kerala by Sprinklr Inc. While an interim order dated April 24, 2020 provides some relief, it fails to address certain key issues. IFF has shared a representation with the Government of Kerala and an Expert Committee formed on the issue. In it, we have pointed out the lacunae in the order and have made specific suggestions on how best to resolve them. Our main recommendation is, in keeping with the ideal of competitive federalism, the Government of Kerala should develop a state level framework to regulate the collection, processing, storage, and security of health and related data during epidemic situations under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://internetfreedom.in/we-wrote-to-the-kerala-government-and-the-expert-committee-formed-on-the-sprinklr-inc-data-protection-issue-in-kerala-highlighting-the-need-for-preserving-the-ideal-of-constitutional-fe/