The Minnesota Department of Public Safety raised alarm bells last weekend when Commissioner John Harrington said in a press conference that law enforcement was using “contact tracing” on arrested protesters?

Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington says they've begun contact tracing arrestees?

According to Minnesota public health authorities, Harrington was referring to the normal process of law enforcement investigations.

He did not mean that the police were using data from Covid-19 contact tracing efforts or tools to assist in those investigations, as some have interpreted his remarks to mean.

“He used the term ‘contract tracing’ as a metaphor,” Julie Bartkey, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Health, told Recode.

“He is talking about typical criminal investigative work, not a new technology or strategy,” Bruce Gordon, director of communications for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, told Recode.

“We need new laws to guarantee such data minimization, not just for contact tracing, but for all Covid-19 responses that gather personal information,” Adam Schwartz, senior staff attorney for the EFF, recently wrote.

According to the Washington Post, a bill that would put limits on digital contact tracing tools and the data they collect will soon be introduced to the Senate.

In mid-May, House and Senate Democrats introduced another bill that would similarly protect health data collected during a public health crisis.