Conclusion

The rapid onset of the pandemic forced schools and workplaces to make difficult choices about the institution of healthy, safety, and productivity measures, choices that should be revisited and reconsidered if warranted. As Kent Wada articulated during our panel, “We know that and so our actions today really do make a difference for the future. And again we have to acknowledge that emergencies require emergency responses, but where we can we need to take that step back.”

As the pandemic stretches on, the continuation of education and employment opportunities is central to re-establishing the major pillars of our functioning society. While the use of some technological tools deployed in response to the pandemic can have beneficial effects, employers and schools should adhere to important privacy-protective principles, and policymakers should establish needed guardrails to ensure that we protect both the safety and the privacy of employees and students.