North Cook News

Illinois state Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhurst, has called upon her fellow lawmakers to address data privacy related to COVID-19 testing in schools as a top priority in the upcoming legislative session.

Mazzochi has been vocal about her concerns and wants her colleagues to take them seriously.

"When we return to Springfield this fall, legislators need to take a hard look at what is happening at our flagship university with the data it has collected over the past two years," Mazzochi wrote Wednesday in a Facebook post. "I have been raising alarm bells about this for months, but this should be a concern of all legislators."

Six months ago, Mazzochi questioned University of Illinois President Tim Killeen about data privacy and funding of the school's covidSHEILD saliva testing during a hearing, according to the Center Square. To this day, she said she's still worried about those same issues. At the time of the March hearing, Mazzochi said that data is never truly anonymous, especially data samples that have "genetic information." Killeen had promised to work with the representative to address her concerns. 

In August, Mazzochi told WMAY she was still worried since university staff wasn't given the option to opt-out of the saliva testing. The Center Square reports that the saliva tests are being paid for by tax dollars. The tests are available for K-12 schools across the state through the Illinois Department of Public Health. Mazzochi said she is still worried about where the money for the tests is going and who will ultimately own the information collected. 

According to IDPH, teachers and staff are required to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing if they are not "fully" vaccinated against the virus.