The Big Story: Privacy, big data, and COVID-19. As federal officials, tech companies, and researchers are using data to help identify and track viral transmissions and coronavirus hotspots, policymakers and advocates are raising concerns about the collection and use of potentially sensitive data. This week, the Senate Commerce Committee held a paper hearing to examine how anonymized and aggregated data is being used to combat the spread of COVID-19.
In written testimony posted as part of the hearing, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said the use of anonymized data, “although well intentioned and possibly necessary at this time,” highlighted “the need for uniform, national privacy legislation.” The hearing came after reports that White House senior adviser Jared Kushner was reaching out to health groups about creating a national coronavirus surveillance system to track patients seeking treatment.
There are significant concerns about the unfettered use of Americans’ personal data and health information. At the same time, anonymized and aggregated data sourced by tech companies has helped identify areas of the country where social distancing measures are working and provided crucial information about the spread of the coronavirus. Engine has long advocated for Congress to adopt a federal privacy law that protects consumer data and supports innovation on the startup level. Lawmakers can clear up any confusion by crafting strong federal standards that encourage sound data practices and do not put startups at a competitive disadvantage to their larger competitors.
Are you a startup impacted by federal relief efforts? To better understand the relationship between economic relief efforts and startups, we are asking companies to fill out a brief survey to help determine how the government can clarify existing rules—such as the SBA’s affiliation rules—to better protect the nation’s startup ecosystem.
Engine also released a coronavirus resources guide to help startups navigate these uncertain times, including information on accessing federal economic relief and other details about the latest stimulus package and uninsurance benefits. We will continue to update the resources guide as the response to the pandemic continues to evolve.
Policy Roundup:
Startups in the age of COVID-19. As the coronavirus continues to upend daily life, hundreds of startups across the United States have changed their business models in order to respond to the pandemic. Engine spoke with four entrepreneurs to learn more about how they retooled their services as a result of the virus.
Uncertainty reigns over SBA’s affiliation rules. Confusion over whether venture-backed startups can access small business loans included in last month’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act has prompted some startups to ask investors and board members to change their voting and control terms in order to adhere to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s current guidelines. As we previously noted, The SBA’s “affiliation rules” can exclude VC-backed startups from receiving Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans by requiring them to count the employees of their “affiliates” as their own employees—a move that could push them over the 500 employee threshold to qualify for the loans.
Additional PPP funding stalls in Senate. The Trump administration asked lawmakers earlier this week to approve an additional $250 billion for Paycheck Protection Program loans, but the effort stalled in the Senate after Democrats and Republicans disagreed over whether additional funding measures should be included in the latest round of economic relief.
Gig workers won’t see immediate economic benefits. Although the CARES Act extended unemployment benefits to gig workers and self-employed workers, officials across state unemployment offices—inundated with applications—say they’re still determining the process for providing gig workers and other independent contractors with benefits.
EU still moving forward with AI regulations. The European Union is continuing to move forward with a new artificial intelligence policy proposal set to be introduced later this year, despite the potential ramifications it could have on AI startups that have used the technology to combat COVID-19. The European Commission’s proposal—which was laid out in a white paper earlier this year—would implement a tiered approach to AI regulation to match different risks associated with the technology.
Startup Roundup:
#StartupsEverywhere: New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Capice, a Florida-based AI startup that uses deep learning to analyze data, recently announced that it is offering medical researchers free access to its deep learning network to help combat the spread of COVID-19. We recently spoke with Capice’s CEO, Gordon McDonald, to learn more about how the startup’s deep learning platform works, and the firm’s decision to open up its platform to coronavirus researchers.
