New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced the latest phase of his plan to bring mass surveillance to NJ through his contact tracing program.
Murphy announced NJ currently has 900 contact tracers working and expect to hire 1,600 more this month. As many as 4,000 tracers will eventually be hired Murphy says, in anticipation of a potential second wave of covid19 this fall.
These tracers will phone ordinary New Jerseans and will ask for personal information such as names of resident, phone numbers, health information and employment information.
The contact tracers are currently being trained at the School of Public Health at Rutgers University and by local health departments.
Murphy implored resident to cooperate and relinquish their personal information when a stranger from the state’s contact tracing team calls them and asks them to do so.
“We need people to know that when a contact tracer calls them picking up their phones or returning their call if they missed it is important to their health and the health of their family and their community,” he said.