Could Biometric Data be the Solution to Covid-19 Passports?

Across the globe, countries such as Israel, China and Denmark have rolled out Covid-19 vaccine passports, just as France, Germany, and Spain have been investigating different options. The UK for example has been funding eight different projects for possible covid-19 passports. One of them uses biometric data.

Biometric systems work by effectively turning our bodies into data. The most common forms use fingerprints or facial structures. This technology carefully examines our structures, while recording each and every bit that makes us unique. With this data, the system creates our profile, which can be used in the future to identify us.

Biometric data is not a new invention as it has been used in the past, on a smaller scale, however. In the American military, for example, an individual’s profile also includes authority levels that allow only specific personnel to have access to certain equipment. Most of our phones also use biometric data. iPhones for example uses either fingerprints or face structures instead of passwords to unlock your phone.

By creating a nationwide covid-19 vaccine password using biometric data, our biometric profile would then include our health status related to covid-19. It could possibly show whether we are covid positive, covid negative, or recently recovered. However, with this, we could essentially be creating a new form of national or even international identification.

The use of this data would then depend on the different nations. It could, for example, be the key to traveling. If the UK were to get the majority of its nation vaccinated, then they could also require all incoming travelers to be vaccinated. This however would violate an individual’s rights and ethics. So how would you deal with this situation?

Source

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-56818006

By Carlota Champalimaud Year 12