US covid contract details are a “trade secret”—according to the contractors

Bhutan vaccinated almost all adults in one week 

Sponsored by MIT Sloan The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Covid contract secrecy 04.12.21 Good morning! Today: trade secrecy clauses mean we can't properly scrutinize the billions the US government is pumping into fighting the pandemic, and how Bhutan vaccinated almost all adults in just one week. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. US covid contract details are a “trade secret”—according to the contractors   What’s happening: The US government is pumping billions of dollars into projects aimed at curbing the pandemic, from vaccine development to genomic sequencing. Officials claim they’re being transparent about how money is being spent. But government contractors have a lot of leeway to hide things, as a recent records request filed by MIT Technology Review shows. Specifically: After reporting on the struggles of the US’s $44 million vaccine management system, we requested documents related to the CDC contracts, awarded to Deloitte. The records we got back had significant redactions—including the company’s costs, who worked on the project, and even Deloitte’s explanation for why it was qualified to do the job. The redactions cite a rule in the Freedom of Information Act referred to as Exemption 4, which allows companies to hide “commercial information” from the public. The contractor, rather than the government, decides what is considered sensitive information. Why it matters: Companies have essentially free rein to call contract details “confidential business information,” thanks to a 2019 decision by the Supreme Court. The decision has led to increasing secrecy about the business of government. Read the full story. —Cat Ferguson  We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + Ramadan Mubarak to any readers observing it! Whether you're fasting or not, these recipes look a treat. (NYT $)    + NASA shared an incredible image of blue dunes on Mars.   + Some punters were particularly keen to get their pints in when pubs reopened in parts of the UK today.    + That's one sassy raven.   + A poignant tribute to the resiliency of DMX.   + Absolutely stunning portraits of cycling in England. (NYT $) Sponsor Message Register for The Social Media Summit @ MIT on April 22 The Social Media Summit @ MIT (SMS@MIT) brings together the world’s leaders in social technology to examine one of the most critical and compelling issues of our time – the impact of social media on our democracies, our economies, and our public health -- with a vision to craft meaningful solutions to the social media crisis. Hosted by Sinan Aral, Director of the MIT IDE and author of The Hype Machine, and Andrew McAfee, Co-director of the MIT IDE. Register free now. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Bhutan vaccinated almost all adults in one week 💉 Amazing. (The Economist $)   + Biden is sending vaccinators (but not vaccines!) to Michigan, the worst-hit US state. (AP $).   + The UK reported the lowest daily death toll in nearly seven months yesterday. (The Guardian)   + An update to the UK's contact tracing app was blocked for breaking Apple and Google's rules. (BBC)   + Russia's death toll is far higher than official figures claim. (NYT $)   + China is considering mixing vaccines to boost their efficacy. (Reuters)  2 The chip crisis is growing There's now a 60-week delay on internet router orders. (Bloomberg $)   + How Asia came to dominate chipmaking, and what the US wants to do about it. (CNBC)   + The White House is planning to hold another emergency summit. (WP $)  3 Amazon defeated unionization efforts in Bessemer. Here's what's next. Amazon won the battle, but pro-union organizers think they can still win the war. (Protocol)   4 A database of 1.3 million Clubhouse users' data is available for free online Facebook, LinkedIn, now this. (CyberNews)   + Clubhouse says the data was scraped, not leaked. So that's okay then? (The Verge)   5 Teen girls are seeking out safe spaces online to speak up about sexual violence And as they do, they discover virtually all of them have experienced it in some form or another. (CNET)   + A feminist internet would be better for everyone. (TR)   + More than 500 Google employees have signed an open letter demanding it stop protecting harassers. (The Verge)  6 Covid conspiracists are making a killing on Instagram Selling false cures like silver spray and seawater. (TBIJ)   + Speaking of... a tweet about Fyre Fest is being sold as an NFT. (The Verge)  7 Google secretly used competitors' ad-buying data to give itself an advantage Texas alleges this amounts to insider trading. (WSJ $)   8 How to survive a killer asteroid ☄️ You're going to need to find a deep cave in Indonesia. (Wired $)   9 Even your phone doesn't want you to stare at it while you walk 🤳 Take the hint, people. (The Verge)   10 A man tried to blow up the internet Literally. (Vice) What's next for a digitally transformed workforce? Join MIT Technology Review and Harvard Business Review at EmTech Next, the signature "future of work" event. Explore innovative technologies and leadership strategies that will power a forever changed workforce. Reserve your spot today. Quote of the Day “It’s like watching a train wreck while you’re inside the train.” —Pranav Dixit, a tech reporter for Buzzfeed News based in India, describes watching his country slide into tech-enabled authoritarianism. Top image credit: OLIVER CONTRERAS/SIPA USA/AP IMAGES Please send sassy ravens to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up today Don't settle for half the story. Subscribe to MIT Technology Review for paywall-free access to our journalism. Subscribe now   Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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