Consumer Reports writes to request that Verily, the health subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, make certain changes to its COVID-19 testing platform to address several privacy issues associated with the initial rollout.
Although we appreciate the rapid creation of this important portal, Verily should not force individuals who need care, testing, and treatment to create or sign in to a Google account in order to access this portal. In addition, we urge Verily to place a prominent notice on their site informing individuals that any private health data disclosed to the company will not be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.