Interim order on COVID-19 data collection row a setback for Cong: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi VIjayan on Friday said the interim order of the High Court on the COVID-19 data collection controversy is a setback to the opposition Congress which had raised allegations against the Left government.

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The Opposition Congress has been levelling charges that the collection of data by the U.S firm violated the fundamental rights of the COVID-19 patients and moved the court on Tuesday seeking quashing of its contract with US- based firm.

The court Friday permitted the state government to utilise the services of the firm Sprinklr, for processing data, subject to stringent conditions.

However, itrestrained the US-based IT firm from analysing or processing the data related to COVID-19 patients and directed it to re-transfer to the state government, any data it has obtained.

Vijayan said the court had not cancelled or stayed the agreementas sought by the Opposition.

"The main petition was to cancel the agreement or to stay it. However, it didn't happen and asked us to go ahead.

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With regard to the security of the data, the state government had taken necessary steps.There is no dilution in that matter," VIjayan said.

He said that the court order proves that the state government's stand was right in the matter and make sure about the security of the data collected.

Meanwhile, Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, who is a party to the case,told media that the order agrees with the Congress party's concern over security of the data.

Amid opposition charges, the Kerala government on Wednesday constituted a two-member committee to examine whether the privacy of personal and sensitive data of COVID-19 patients from the state has been protected under an agreement entered by it with a US-based IT firm.

The state government has said that it had initiated steps to set up a Data Analytics platform to integrate data from various sources available in the government to meet the "exigency of a massive and unprecedented surge of epidemic".

During the hearing, the court hailed the state government's fight against COVID-19, but said it was concerned about data confidentiality.

The government informed the court that the agreement with Sprinklr has safeguards for data protection "as per standard practices of software as a service model."