S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7241
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 29, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  GOTTFRIED, BRONSON, CRUZ, FERNANDEZ, HEVESI,
   McDONALD,  SEAWRIGHT,  SILLITTI,  SIMON,  WOERNER  --  read  once  and
   referred to the Committee on Health
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public  health law, in relation to communicable
   disease contact tracing

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  The  title heading of title 8 of article 21 of the public
 health law, as added by chapter 377 of the laws of 2020, is  amended  to
 read as follows:
           [NOVEL CORONAVIRUS, COVID-19] COMMUNICABLE DISEASES;
                              CONTACT TRACING
   §  2.  Section 2180 of the public health law, as amended by chapter 62
 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
   § 2180. Definitions. As used in this title the following  terms  shall
 have the following meanings:
   1. "Contact tracing" means [COVID-19] COMMUNICABLE DISEASE case inves-
 tigation and identification of case individuals and contact individuals.
   2. (a) "Contact tracer" and "contact tracing entity" means an individ-
 ual  or  entity  employed  by  or under contract with the state, a local
 government, a state or local governmental entity, or an  agent  thereof,
 to  conduct  contact  tracing,  engage  in  contact  tracing, or receive
 contact tracing information.
   (b) A contact tracer or contact tracing entity  shall  not  include  a
 service  provider  that is a non-governmental entity that is employed by
 or under contract with a contact tracing entity  or  an  agent  thereof,
 that  receives,  transmits,  maintains, stores, or hosts contact tracing
 information at the direction of a  contact  tracer  or  contact  tracing
 entity  so  long as such service provider's access to the information is
 exclusively limited to  the  maintenance  of  the  information  and  the
 contact  tracer  or contact tracing entity has the ability to delete and
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD10875-01-1

 A. 7241                             2
 
 manage contact tracing information as provided  by  this  chapter,  law,
 rules  or  regulations. A service provider under this paragraph shall be
 referred to in this title as a "designated non-governmental  entity."  A
 service  provider  that does not meet the requirements of this paragraph
 and would otherwise be subject to  paragraph  (a)  of  this  subdivision
 shall be a contact tracing entity.
   3.  "Contact  tracing information" means any information that includes
 or can reveal the identity of any case individual or contact individual,
 and any [COVID-19-related] COMMUNICABLE DISEASE-RELATED  information  or
 test  results, received or collected for the purpose or in the course of
 contact tracing.
   4. "Contact individual" means an individual who has or may  have  come
 in contact with a case individual or who has or may have been exposed to
 and possibly infected with [COVID-19] A COMMUNICABLE DISEASE.
   5.  "Case individual" means an individual with a confirmed or probable
 diagnosis of [COVID-19] A COMMUNICABLE DISEASE.
   6. ["COVID-19" means infection with  or  the  disease  caused  by  the
 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
   7.]  "Immigration  authority"  means any entity, officer, employee, or
 government employee or agent thereof charged with or engaged in enforce-
 ment of the federal  Immigration  and  Nationality  Act,  including  the
 United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Depart-
 ment   of  Homeland  Security,  or  United  States  Customs  and  Border
 Protection, or agent, contractor or employee thereof, or  any  successor
 legislation or entity.
   [8.] 7. "De-identified" means, in relation to contact tracing informa-
 tion,  that the information cannot identify or be made to identify or be
 associated with a particular individual, directly or indirectly  and  is
 subject to technical safeguards and policies and procedures that prevent
 re-identification,  whether  intentionally  or  unintentionally,  of any
 individual.
   [9.] 8. "Law enforcement agent or entity" means any governmental enti-
 ty or public servant, or agent, contractor or employee thereof,  author-
 ized  to  investigate,  prosecute,  or  make an arrest for a criminal or
 civil offense (except a designated civil offense),  or  engaged  in  any
 such  activity,  but  shall not mean the department, the commissioner, a
 health district, a county department of health, a county health  commis-
 sioner,  a local board of health, a local health officer, the department
 of health and mental hygiene of the city of New York, or the commission-
 er of the department of health and mental hygiene of  the  city  of  New
 York.  As  used  in this subdivision, "designated civil offense" means a
 civil offense or offenses designated by the commissioner (or the commis-
 sioner of the New York city department of health and mental  hygiene  in
 the  case of contact tracing information collected by or under authority
 of the New York city department of health and mental hygiene or the  New
 York city health and hospitals corporation).
   [10.] 9. "Support" means resources or services provided to an individ-
 ual to enable such individual to safely quarantine or isolate, including
 grocery,  meal  or  pharmacy  delivery, laundry services, child or elder
 care, pet walking, assistance with telephone, internet, or other  commu-
 nication  services  or devices, health and mental health services, legal
 services, provision of appropriate  living  space  for  individuals  who
 cannot isolate or quarantine at home, and income replacement.  "Support"
 may  also  include  support  provided  to other individuals for whom the
 individual commonly provides those resources or services.
   [11.] 10. "Permitted purpose" means:

 A. 7241                             3
 
   (a) disclosure to appropriate health care providers or their personnel
 for the purpose of the clinical diagnosis, care or treatment of the case
 individual or contact individual who is the subject of the  information,
 where  an  emergency  exists  and the individual is in immediate need of
 medical attention and an attempt to secure consent would result in delay
 of  treatment  which would increase the risk to the individual's life or
 health;
   (b) facilitating a legally-authorized  public  health-related  action,
 where  and  only to the extent necessary to protect the public health in
 relation to [COVID-19] A COMMUNICABLE DISEASE; or
   (c) use or disclosure of contact tracing information to pursue a legal
 action in relation to a violation of this title; provided  that  disclo-
 sure  shall  be  subject  to in camera review and approval by the court,
 and, if the use is initiated by a party other than the  case  individual
 or contact individual who is the subject of the contact tracing informa-
 tion,  the  information  must  be  highly  material and relevant for the
 purpose.
   § 3. The section heading and subdivision 5  of  section  2181  of  the
 public  health  law,  as  amended by chapter 62 of the laws of 2021, are
 amended to read as follows:
   § 2181. [COVID-19] COMMUNICABLE DISEASE contact tracing; confidential-
 ity.
   5. No law enforcement agent or entity or immigration  authority  shall
 be a contact tracer or contact tracing entity or engage in contact trac-
 ing.  This subdivision does not bar an individual who is associated with
 a  law enforcement entity or immigration authority from acting only as a
 case individual or contact individual. This subdivision does not prevent
 a law enforcement agent or entity from  assisting  in  a  permitted  use
 under  paragraph  (b)  of subdivision [eleven] TEN of section twenty-one
 hundred eighty of this title.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.