# Professor Vasant Dhar weighs in on the ethics of using real-time cellphone data in disease tracking and public health efforts

1 Faculty News November 30, 2019 ![Fast Company logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/uat_026723.jpg?itok=PGORMP3v)>

Excerpt from [Fast Company](https://www.fastcompany.com/90432573/mit-your-smartphone-could-be-the-key-to-tracking-disease) -- "[Vasant Dhar](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/vasant-dhar), an artificial intelligence researcher and professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, says some countries are working on systems that could more easily free up data for such projects. A data protection bill on the table in India would create an app where people can collect and view their data, for instance. It would also appoint a “data fiduciary” to each account, someone who would act as a gatekeeper to a person’s data."

[Read More](https://www.fastcompany.com/90432573/mit-your-smartphone-could-be-the-key-to-tracking-disease)