DREDF Opposes Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) When It Threatens Disabled People’s Civil and Privacy Rightsand Impedes Personal Choice, Autonomy, and Community Participation
March 2018
Disabled people have the right to receive home and community-based services in a manner that maximizes our personal autonomy and independence and that does not compromise our privacy. EVV could potentially infringe on these principles. Chief concerns include:
- EVV typically requires workers to check in from the homes of clients, yet consumer directed attendant programs allow services to be delivered anywhere they are needed, such as schools and workplaces. This conflict creates the potential for an atmosphere of ‘house arrest,’ limiting community participation, and perpetuating the outmoded stereotype that disabled people cannot or do not leave their homes.
- GEO tracking, which could be used to verify the service location, infringes on fundamental privacy rights and liberties of disabled people.
- Multiple, daily, task-by-task electronic check-ins, if required, are needlessly burdensome, will disrupt daily routines and worker-client communications and will take up valuable and limited service time.
- Not all disabled people have digital access or landlines, generally required by EVV.
- The state might be viewed as a joint-employer, triggering additional costs for unpaid overtime.
- EVV companies will likely receive contracts primarily on the bases of their promised technical capacity and the amount of their bid, without any regard for whether their proposals violate the rights of disabled people.