Protocol

A chief critic of the tech industry's attempts to track coronavirus patients went to work and held meetings with employees after his doctor directed him to take a test for COVID-19 that subsequently came back positive. Marc Rotenberg, the president and executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, acknowledged in a memo to his staff and his board that he should have quarantined and alerted his staff that he was taking a coronavirus test on March 9, instead of continuing to work alongside them for two days.

In this disorienting and terrifying moment in American history, there's one sliver of good news: The internet seems to be working. Communications networks are surviving an explosion of videoconferencing, distance learning and shelter-in-place streaming. That makes Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai very happy. He said his agency has been working with the White House, other federal agencies and private industry to plot out a strategy for keeping Americans connected during this crisis.

As the markets crash and foreshadow a potential economic downturn, some people in the tech industry are also asking what Washington can do for them — particularly as Congress weighs stimulus packages to protect future structure of the American economy. Here's what to watch when it comes to the tech industry and the coronavirus recovery effort.

New York City unveiled a massive new Internet Master Plan in Jan that experts say is the largest and most aggressive local broadband improvement project in US history. If successful, the city's proposal could become a template for other towns and cities looking to improve broadband access and provide a leg up to regional economies.