Prairie State Wire

The new Vax Verify system launched by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is “horrible," according to a digital privacy proponent.

The harsh assessment of the system being touted by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and IDPH as secure comes from Electronic Frontier Foundation director of engineering Alexis Hancock, who reviews such systems around the country.

 Hancock is bothered that in order to access the Illinois program, residents are required to verify their information through consumer credit rating firm Experian.

“This system is horrible in Illinois. Using Experian is definitely one of the worst ones I’ve seen yet,” Hancock said. “If you have frozen your credit for whatever reason, you have to unfreeze your credit with Experian in order to actually access a vaccination record from this Vax Verify system. You don't have to do that every day, right? You don’t have to swoop out your vaccination records every day and that frequency and that scope can become an issue when companies who are holding this information and databases are holding this information aren’t necessarily being held accountable to the stricter standard of how long they should log information, if they should log information at all.”

When introducing the system, IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike showed no such concerns.

“As more businesses, events, organizations, and others require proof of vaccination, Illinois residents will be able to confirm using Vax Verify that they have been vaccinated for COVID-19,”  Ezike said in a statement. “With the current surge in cases, more people are making the decision to get a COVID-19 vaccine and this new tool will aid residents in confirming their vaccination where needed.”

Even as other state agencies have proven vulnerable to cyber attacks, Pritzker dismisses all the concerns.

“We’ve got a significant effort to make sure the information is secure and that our computers across the state are secure,” he said.