Under a new state "contact tracing" mandate imposed on Michigan businesses, firms have no duty to verify that the contact information they must collect from patrons is correct, and are not required to deny entry to customers who refuse to cooperate.

That’s what a "Frequently Asked Questions" post on a state website says about the mandate imposed by Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, effective Nov. 2.

The state "encourages" establishments to deny entry to individuals who refuse to provide their name and contact information. Businesses are also asked to collect information from everyone at a table, including parental information for minors. But the FAQ document says it is acceptable to collect contact information just from the head of the household.

The order does not affect just restaurants and bars. According to the FAQ the mandate extends to: "Barbering, cosmetology services, body art services (including tattooing and body piercing), tanning services, massage services, or similar personal care services; Recreational sports and exercise facilities, and entertainment facilities (except for outdoor, non-ticketed events), including arenas, cinemas, concert halls, performance venues, sporting venues, stadiums and theaters, as well as places of public amusement, such as amusement parks, arcades, and bingo halls; all businesses or operations that provide in-home services, including cleaners, repair persons, painters; all dine-in food service establishments, including bars and restaurants."

In May, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee required businesses to obtain contact information from their customers so that state officials could conduct contact tracing should COVID-19 outbreaks develop.

The ACLU of Washington protested the measure, and Inslee quickly retracted the mandate.

“We have serious concerns with any plan that would require people to disclose their names and/or contact information and whereabouts without strict controls on the storage and accessibility of such information,” the ACLU of Washington state wrote. “Normally, judicial oversight or, at a minimum, informed consent would be required to allow others to access and use personally identifying information and related data about travel and association with others. Business logs cannot be susceptible to disclosure beyond the tightly limited purposes of contact tracing. Without appropriate safeguards, contact information can be disclosed to immigration agents, law enforcement, advertising companies, identity thieves, stalkers, and harassers. If providing contact information is mandatory, rather than voluntary, this may have the effect of excluding people from public accommodations for fear of nonconsensual data sharing and other forms of surveillance abuses.”

Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services issued a similar requirement for state businesses, effective Nov. 2.

After the director of Michigan’s state health department announced significantly more intrusive restrictions and mandates on restaurants effective Nov. 2, Republican state Sen. Ken Horn issued a press release seeking an explanation.

“For months we’ve been told this is purely scientific, but this just doesn’t add up. It’s outrageous that this appointee is targeting restaurants when the data doesn’t match," Horn wrote. "According to the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association, less than 2% of outbreaks come from restaurants, yet the order places a disproportionate amount of blame and responsibility on these small businesses."

Called the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, spokesman Bob Wheaton said the following in an email when asked why restaurants were the focus of the latest order:

“It is necessary to take actions such as limiting table sizes and having contact information collected, as the CDC has shown that visiting restaurants is a risk factor for COVID positivity, and currently there are 12 outbreaks in Michigan associated with bars or restaurants with currently active clusters up to 12 cases,” according to Wheaton. “Because there is heightened risk that COVID will spread when many people spend an extended period in an indoor setting without consistently wearing masks, public health experts around the country recognize restaurants as significant sources of risk for COVID’s spread. The CDC has published research showing that ‘Adults with positive SARS-CoV-2 test results were approximately twice as likely to have reported dining at a restaurant than were those with negative SARS-CoV-2 test results.’ The executive order was necessary to save lives and contain the spread of COVID-19 amidst a surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Thousands of businesses across multiple sectors are required to take the names and phone numbers of customers so that they can be contacted if they are exposed to someone who has COVID-19. This includes businesses that provide barbering and cosmetology services, cinemas, sporting venues, amusement parks, arcades and bingo halls. We want to protect not only customers, but also hardworking, frontline staff. We thank restaurants and bars for taking appropriate precautions and being good partners.”