Sen Menendez, Colleagues Warn Trump Administration, Google of Privacy Concerns in COVID-19 Screening Website

Sen Bob Menendez (D-NJ) led a group of colleagues in sending separate letters to the Trump Administration and the tech company Google raising concerns over privacy and cybersecurity vulnerabilities involving a third-party coronavirus (COVID-19) testing website announced recently by President Donald Trump and coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx. Furthermore, the group of senators expressed concerns about data privacy in regards to Google’s “Project Nightingale,” an initiative with Ascension Health that grants the tech giant access to millions of Americans' personal health data. In addition, they requested information on who in the Administration is in charge of monitoring this arrangement and ensuring private information is protected and whether anyone interested in doing the online screening would be required to have a Google email account (Gmail.com) to access the website. As of March 18, there is no clear timeline on the date when the coronavirus information website will be available as Google pushed back the launch originally scheduled for March 16.