How secure is Utah's website that aims to get everyone tested for coronavirus?

SALT LAKE CITY — As of last week, over 51,000 people had taken the COVID-19 assessment on TestUtah.com, and there were over 2,000 testing appointments scheduled through the site, according to Silicon Slopes’ executive director, Clint Betts.

"Every day we get closer to getting every Utahn tested," Betts said in a tweet.

The website invites people to take a free public health assessment that will determine whether they need to be tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Silicon Slopes is overseeing the site in coordination with the state of Utah and several Utah tech companies, including Qualtrics, Domo, Nomi Health and others.

Though the site aims to help health officials and government authorities respond more effectively to the current pandemic, the assessment does ask for some personal health information. That brings up the question of whether your information and data is safe if you fill out the assessment.

After examining TestUtah.com, Adam Austin, a cyber security analyst with Utah firm Haight Bey & Associates, said Wednesday he was confident in the site from a baseline security standpoint, though the test does raise some data security questions.

Since TestUtah.com has an "https" URL, that indicates the site is secure, Austin said. The site’s certificate, which is used to create the site’s encrypted connection, is valid and was issued to Qualtrics, a well-known and reputable company, he added.

However, even though the site is secure, it still asks respondents to give personal information about their health. That means sensitive information about you is ending up in the hands of somebody else, and you should always be wary of that, Austin said.

"It comes down to a personal risk decision," he said. "In this case it’s potentially for the greater good."

Here's how Utah plans to test everyone who needs it for COVID-19

The plan includes launching an online assessment, setting up new testing facilities across the state and tracking the hotspots.

As part of the assessment, respondents are asked to give their full name, phone number and date of birth, as well as some health statistics, including height, weight and some illness history.

The companies say the website and test are secure, and that personal data gathered in the survey on the site is protected by HIPAA and the Utah Department of Health privacy policy. The company collecting the data has been vetted and approved by the state of Utah, according to a frequently asked questions section on the site.

The state will continue analyzing the data collected from the survey throughout the pandemic, according to the site. The methods used for collecting and storing the data meet all state and federal guidelines, the site says.

As a cyber security expert, Austin said he would want to know exactly who is in charge of the site and where the data is going. People should understand that any information they submit on the site will be given to the government, he said.

According to Utah Department of Health spokesman Tom Hudachko, the data collected through the site belongs to the state, not the Silicon Slopes companies.

Once the state is done using the information collected for COVID-19 response purposes, it will be "deidentified" and used only in an aggregate manner, Hudachko said in an email. Those stipulations are included in the state’s contract with the vendors of the site, he added.

Betts told KSL.com on Friday that the data is controlled completely by the state of Utah. The site uses the state’s Qualtrics account, he said.

The health assessment on the site was written by Utah health officials and approved by state authorities, Betts added. It helps health officials get a sense of where "hotspots" for COVID-19 are in the state, and where resources should be allocated, he said.

The website is still getting a lot of traffic every day, Betts said.

"The most fascinating part of this for us has been how incredible it is that so many people have come together," he said. "I’m in awe of it."

Utah health leaders have endorsed the site, which is part of a public-private partnership between the Silicon Slopes companies and the state of Utah.

"We know that a huge part of solving this pandemic here in Utah is to identify people with COVID-19. So any initiative that allows us to identify more positive COVID-19 cases allows us to do better public health initiatives, such as contact tracing, investigation, isolation, quarantine. So this effort is part of that and will allow us to do public health initiatives better and more broadly," Utah Department of Health state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn said on April 2 when the site was announced.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert also added his support for the effort when it was announced.

"This is an example of people coming together, seeing a challenge and a problem. We appreciate, so much, the private sector stepping up as we’ve seen many times in the past," he said.

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