A4170 2R

An Act concerning data privacy related to certain health information ¹and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes¹.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. To the extent that any public health entity ²or a third party entity contracted by the public health entity to conduct contact tracing on the public health entity’s behalf² collects data regarding an individual for the purposes of contact tracing related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, including digital data from Bluetooth devices or global positioning systems, such health and location data shall only be used by the public health entity ²or third party entity² for the purposes of completing contact tracing ²or for research or other purposes authorized under subsection d. of this section², and the public health entity ²or third party entity² shall ensure ²[the] that any individually identifiable or private health² data is ²de-identified or² deleted from the entity’s records no later than ²[30] 90² days after the date the data is received by the entity.

²b.² If a public health entity ²enters into a contract with a third party entity to engage in contact tracing on the public health entity’s behalf and, pursuant to that contract,² shares data collected for the purposes of contact tracing related to the COVID-19 pandemic with ²[a] the² third party entity ²or allows the third party entity to independently collect the data on behalf of the public health entity² , the public health entity shall ²:

(1)² publish the name of the third party entity on its Internet website or on the Internet website of the Department of Health ²[, and shall] ;

(2)² require that the third party entity only use the data for the purposes of completing contact tracing related to the COVID-19 pandemic ²or for research or other purposes authorized under subsection d. of this section;² and

²(3) require that² the third party entity delete ²[the] or de-identify any individually identifiable or private health² data by the date on which the public health entity is required to delete ²or de-identify² the data.

²[To this end, the] c. The² Commissioner of Health shall require that systems using health and location data for contact tracing purposes automatically delete ²[the] or de-identify any individually identifiable or private health² data no later than ²[30] 90² days after the data is entered into the system.

²[b.] d. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit public health entities or other appropriate entities from acquiring, retaining, or using de-identified contact tracing data collected in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic for research purposes or for other purposes related to the State’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The de-identified contact tracing data that may be acquired, retained, and used pursuant to this subsection shall include information and statistics concerning: age; gender; race and ethnicity; location; COVID-19 infection status; COVID-19 exposure information, including the type and nature of the exposure, the setting in which the exposure occurred, the relationship of the individual with the source of the exposure, the date of exposure, and the duration of the exposure; the date of onset of COVID-19; and any other statistical information authorized by the Commissioner of Health for acquisition, retention, or use under this subsection. Any entity in possession of de-identified contact tracing data as authorized under this subsection shall attest to the Commissioner of Health that the entity will not attempt to re-identify the data.

e.² A third party entity that misuses or unlawfully discloses ²individually identifiable or private health data collected by or shared with the entity for the purposes of conducting² COVID-19 contact tracing ²[data shared with it by a public health entity]² , or that retains the ²individually identifiable or private health² data beyond the date on which the data is required to be deleted ²or de-identified² , shall be liable to a civil penalty of up to $10,000, which shall be collected by and in the name of the Commissioner of Health in a summary proceeding before a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).

²[c.] f.² As used in this section:

“Contact tracing” means the process of identifying individuals who were in contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 or who was likely exposed to COVID-19, as well as providing support services to the individual. Contact tracing may include: verbal interviews with individuals and those they may have had contact with, as well as any other individual who may have knowledge of potential exposure situations; to the extent authorized by applicable State and federal laws, accessing an individual’s digital data from a Bluetooth or global positioning system to identify potential exposures; and any other means utilized by a public health entity to track potential exposures to, and the potential spread of, COVID-19 among individuals and population groups within the State.

²“De-identified data” means information that cannot be linked to an individual without additional information that is kept separately, or information that has been modified to a degree that the risk of re-identification is small.

“Individually identifiable data” means information that can be linked to an individual without the need for additional information, or information that can be linked to an individual using other information that is readily available to or accessible by the public.

“Private health data” means health data that is subject to the federal "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996," Pub.L.104-191, and any regulations promulgated thereunder by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.²

“Public health entity” means the Department of Health ²[,] and² any county or local board of health ²[, and any other entity conducting contact tracing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic]² .

2. ²[No later than 30 days after the effective date of this act, the] The² Commissioner of Health shall ²[publish on its Internet website proposed guidance on how] adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), establishing rules and restrictions concerning the ways in which² public health entities and third party entities may use data collected for contact tracing related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how those entities will be required to ensure the security and confidentiality of that data, including any specific internal audit requirements those entities will be required to implement to guard against misuse or unauthorized disclosure of the data. ²[The commissioner shall create a mechanism for members of the public to submit comments on the proposed guidance, allow for a public comment period of at least 30 days, and, no later than 30 days after the public comment period closes, publish final guidance on the use of data collected for the purposes of contact tracing related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which final guidance may incorporate appropriate revisions based on public comments received.]² Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit or delay the implementation of section 1 of this act immediately upon the effective date of this act.

3. This act shall take effect immediately ¹[and shall expire one year after the end of both the state of emergency and the public health emergency declared in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic]¹ .