With vaccines being distributed and administered in the United States and around the world to combat the coronavirus pandemic, there are reportedly plans to produce technologies that can assess who has and has not been vaccinated.
According to a new CNN report, several international organizations and large companies – including the World Economic Forum and IBM – have begun to “ develop smartphone apps or systems that allow individuals to upload details of their COVID-19 tests and vaccinations, taking create digital references that could be displayed to enter concert halls, stadiums, cinemas, offices or even countries. “
One of the emerging technologies, known as the CommonPass app, being developed by the World Economic Forum and The Commons Project, a non-profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, allows users to upload medical data, such as a COVID-19 test or, ultimately, proof of vaccination. The app then generates a certificate in the form of a QR code, which users can reportedly show to officials without disclosing sensitive information.
Well-known technology company IBM has also created its own app, the Digital Health Pass, which works in much the same way, but stores credentials in a mobile wallet.
The forthcoming credentials could act like “vaccine passports,” according to the CNN report, allowing vaccinated individuals to provide proof that they have been injected to enter sites or travel abroad.
But the new technologies also raise several questions, such as whether those who choose not to get vaccinated, or perhaps simply choose not to share their medical information, will be denied access to participating sites or countries. Not to mention that much of the world’s population still doesn’t have access to smartphones or the Internet.
The news will almost certainly spark a new round of discussion about the extent to which individual freedom and privacy can be invaded in the name of public health, especially as many are still wary of receiving a vaccine.
Nevertheless, the development of such technologies continues. Two large groups are even working on establishing universal standards for the reference systems.
According to CNN, “The Linux Foundation has partnered with the Covid-19 Credentials Initiative, a collective of more than 300 people representing dozens of organizations across five continents” to create standardized vaccine passports.