Coronavirus - Kerala Must Take Consent Before Sharing COVID-19 Data With US Firm: Court

The Kerala government must take steps to protect the privacy of people and seek their consent before sharing COVID-19 data with an American company, the state's High Court ruled on Friday, as it heard a case challenging the contract that has drawn fierce criticism from the opposition.

Passing injunctions against the New York-based firm Sprinklr, the Kerala High Court on Friday asked the state government to collate all the data collected so far in an anonymous form and share the information only after that.

In its interim order, the court has also asked the state government to get informed consent of people for their health data to be processed by a third party.

Sprinklr has been asked against committing any act that will be a breach of confidentiality of the data provided to it and told that it cannot use the data or government logo for any promotion.

The state government had entered into a contract with the company earlier this month for analysing the data of lakhs of people who were under surveillance in the state for COVID-19. "The data analysis is crucial for quick response to contain COVID-19 pandemic in the state," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said when questioned repeatedly by the opposition, including Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala.

The court also said that it cannot intervene in the contract and that the state will continue with its efforts to contain COVID-19. However, the protection of people's data remains the court's concern.

Reacting to the court's interim order, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, "This verdict is not a setback to the state government. The opposition sought to cancel the agreement or stay it. The court did not do that."

"The court has also granted permission to the government to go ahead with its action. The government has already taken necessary steps to protect data privacy. Government gives top priority to data privacy," he added.

The opposition welcomed the ruling. "We are demanding for protecting the data. We are demanding for the informed consent of people to be taken before their health data is shared. And also we were raising allegation against the company using Kerala Government's official emblem and other symbols for their promotion," Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said.

The case will be heard again after three weeks.

Kerala, which reported India's first coronavirus case in late January, currently has 116 active cases, while 331 have been released after treatment.

There state has over 21,000 people under observation and 452 in isolation wards at various hospitals.