In this week's post, we see how the global pandemic has begun to have privacy experts questioning the trade-off between consumer privacy and public health as technology companies announce intentions to utilize existing mobile technology and user devices for social tracing to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Also, an overview of employees vs. contractors.

The Troubling Trade-Off Between Social Tracing and Privacy

As the global coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the world, many countries have begun to weigh the trade-off between aggressive contact tracing and individual privacy.  While many health experts credited aggressive social tracing to be the reason for lower death tolls in Germany and China as compared to counterparts like the United Kingdom and the United States, which did not practice social tracing, many wonder at what cost to privacy will new efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 come.

For months now, technology giants like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have all began to provide services that allow users to “screen” themselves for coronavirus symptoms.  For example, Apple teamed up with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the White House to offer a mobile application and website that offered itself as a resource and screening application for COVID-19.

A recent announcement from Apple and Google touts a new joint effort to utilize Bluetooth technology to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 has many privacy experts raising their eyebrows.  Starting in May, both Apple and Google intend to release APIs that enable interoperability between Android and iOS devices that will help public health authorities track the spread of COVID-19 via social tracing.  Through the use of mobile devices, public health officials hope to be able to trace the contact between infected citizens and others in hopes of stemming the spread of the virus.  

Read the full article here.

Employees vs. Contractors

Recently, major companies and startups have been facing challenges about the status of individuals providing services or goods to consumers using a common brand or platform such as Uber or Airbnb. While many of these challenges come from outside of the United States, a number of them have come from within the U.S. Much of it boils down to a simple but important question: Are they an employee or an independent contractor?

In the evolving gig economy, the distinction between the two may be blurred for many who are accustomed to moving from one project to another. However, the distinction is paramount for both parties. 

Find the full article here.

Click to read the previous Weekly IP Buzz on Thriving Attorney.

For more posts, see our Intellectual Property Law Blog.

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In addition to Thriving Attorney, Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas. Click to read more about Darin Klemchuk's practice as an intellectual property lawyer.