Dupage Policy Journal

The University of Illinois System’s Shield Illinois collects saliva samples for COVID-19 testing, testing approximately 20,000 samples daily.

“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 2 years,” Rep. Deanne Mazzochi wrote on Facebook.

A document from Shield Illinois noted it follows the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and collects “protected health information.”

Mazzochi told WMAY in August that she remained concerned over the fact that university staff did not have the option to opt out of the saliva testing. 

“One of the things that’s particularly critical is that I’ve heard from individuals within the Urbana, Champaign area is that employees of the University of Illinois were obligated to participate in clinical trials,” Mazzochi said. “They did not believe they had a choice. They did not believe they had a right to refuse.” 

Illinois taxpayers are continuing to fund these tests, which the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) makes available to K-12 schools statewide. 

“We’re not seeing a lot of transparency in terms of where this money is going and also who’s going to end up owning this very valuable information,” Mazzochi said.

With the collected data, the program learned the infection rate in undergraduate students was “completely unrelated” to cases in Champaign County, showing the university didn’t spread the virus into the community.

Illinois teachers and school staff who are not fully vaccinated are required to test for COVID weekly, according to the IDPH website. Free saliva tests are available for them through SHIELD.

An FAQ by Shield Illinois said the testing doesn’t collect a person’s DNA, only for indications of the coronavirus.

Mazzochi questioned University of Illinois President Tim Killeen at a hearing in March about data privacy and funding of the school's covidSHIELD saliva testing, but said she was still concerned about those issues months later, The Center Square reported.

At the hearing, Mazzochi said, “No data is truly anonymized, and certainly not when you’re talking about collecting saliva samples which are going to have genetic information in it." 

Killeen said, "I hear and appreciate your concerns in this regard and we’ll work with you to alleviate your concerns.”

To learn more about personal health information used for research, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ HIPPA Privacy Rules.