HomeMy WebLinkAboutREP PSC 015 2020/09/01 (2018-2020)REPORT OF THE
COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
DATE: September 1, 2020
PLACE: Council Chambers
TIME: 2:13 p.m.
Council Chair and Members
Hawaii County Council
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Re: Comm. No. 1050/Resolution No. 716-20
Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred Resolution No. 716-20, reports as
follows:
Resolution No. 716-20, transmitted by Council Member Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder via
Communication No. 1050, urges the Mayor's Office to authorize Google and/or Apple to release
Sustain Hawai`i`s Safe Travels Contact Tracing application for voluntary use by County of
Hawaii constituents to augment existing safety protocols currently in place in the State of
Hawaii in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were no testifiers for this committee.
Stephanie Yan, M.D., General Surgeon and Kevin Vaccarello, Executive Director of Sustain
Hawaii, joined the committee meeting via Webex. Dr. Yan and Mr. Vaccarello worked on
creating the Safe Travels Contact Tracing application tailored for Hawaii. The application is ready
to be released but due to the requirements of Google and/or Apple a signing authority is needed.
There are four types of signing authority that would be allowed which are; 1. Government,
2. Insurers, 3. Education, and 4. Hospitals or health institutes. The application uses GPS
technology to digital contract tracing that would help track the spread of COVID-19 infections.
Use of the application is voluntary. Users could stream line information and/or check geographic
areas where infections are or have been active in order to avoid those specific areas. The
technology would bring awareness to and could help prevent the spread of the virus. Privacy
concerns were mentioned.
Dr. Yan stated that the application allows for redaction of personal information which leaves it
up to the user to decide how much personal information to share. The application boundaries are
by county jurisdiction and will not be effective state-wide unless the state approves the
application for state-wide use. The application is free and can work alongside other applications.
Council Chair Aaron Chung stated concerns that there wasn't a Department of Health
representative to share their opinion of the application. Mr. Chung would be more comfortable
from hearing from others and encouraged Mr. Vaccarello and Dr. Yan to reach out and connect
with the Mayor.
The overall opinions of other Council Members were that it is better to have something than
nothing at all. As a whole they are in agreement that some type of action needs to be taken now.
PSC Report No. 15
PSC-15 Page 2 September 1,2020
Council Member Susan Lee Loy voted "kanalua," aye, and Council Member Tim Richards voted
"kanalua," no.
Your Committee on Public Safety is in accord with the purpose and intent of Resolution No. 716-20,
and recommends its adoption.
(1w)
AYES NOES ABS EX Respectfully submitted,
CHUNG X
DAVID x COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
EOFF X
KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER X
KIERKIEWICZ X
LEE LOY X
POINDEXTER x REBECCA VI LEGAS, CHAIR
RICHARDS X PSC REPORT NO. 15
VILLEGAS X ADOPTED: SEP 1 6 2020