Digital Health Passports Continue to Grow Despite Privacy, Equity Concerns

New digital tools that keep track of Covid-19 vaccination records and testing requirements may help countries reopen to international travel, but some worry about privacy and equity.

Easy to read and verify traveler credentials have always been important for international travel. After World War I, when European borders opened to tourists, border agents struggled with verification, given the incredible diversity of passports. The passport confusion created such extreme train delays that it was considered a threat to the economic recovery of the post-war world. 

It wasn’t until 1920 when 42 members of the  League of Nations — which became the United Nations in 1946 — created the standard layout of passports that looks very similar to the passports we use today.

Since then, passports have become a familiar tool for international travelers, but a new travel credential is being hotly debated: digital health “passports.”

In the US and abroad, people debate whether a digital health certificate (sometimes called a “vaccine passport”) should be required to prove immunization status. Americans are now given a white paper card as evidence of their Covid-19 vaccination status. These paper cards are easily lost, and online scammers are already selling false versions of the cards. Some argue that digital vaccines passes are harder to lose and fake. 

Digital health passes often take the form of mobile apps, and while they may look different, they all do approximately the same things: store and track vaccinations, testing records, and other critical paperwork. 

While the US government has spoken out against mandating a federal digital health pass, some states have created their versions. New York became the first state to launch a digital health certificate called Excelsior Pass. The digital health pass verifies a person’s negative coronavirus test result and if they are fully vaccinated. The Excelsior Pass, which is free and voluntary for all New Yorkers, has now had more than one million downloads.

Other countries have also launched initiatives to introduce government-endorsed electronic vaccine passes. France was the first European country to test a digital health pass, and the European Union has endorsed an electronic vaccine certificate to be recognized beginning July 1, 2022. Individual member countries will still be able to set their own rules for travel requirements, and several European countries have begun using it, including Germany and Italy.

Other non-European countries that have implemented vaccine passes include China, Argentina, Egypt, and Canada, to name a few.

Airline-created health passes help streamline international travel

Many international trips now require travelers to show proof of vaccination or a recent recovery from Covid-19 and a negative Covid-19 test. Airlines are frequently enforcing these rules and verifying the documents, and there is no standardized app across the world.

To ease the document verification process, airlines are starting to create and partner with mobile apps. American Airlines, British Airways, and other partner airlines use VeriFLY to certify and store vaccination status, negative test results, and other travel documents. United Airlines offers a Travel-Ready Center app, and Delta Air Lines has Fly Ready, an online form you can use to upload all the necessary health data.

Other airlines are partnering with outside tech companies for help verifying proof of vaccine. The International Air Transport Association — an industry trade group — developed the IATA Travel Pass that’s used by more than 20 airlines including Emirates and Virgin Atlantic. Other major airlines use CommonPass, developed by the World Economic Forum and the Commons Project Foundation.

The most significant partnership is between Amadeus — a reservation system used by 474 airlines — and IBM’s digital health passport solution called IBM Digital Health Pass. The health pass sends travelers a QR code that can be scanned on a mobile phone or printed. The app also tracks requirements in each country which relieves airline employees from the burden.

Digital health passes continue to face opposition

Although becoming widely used, digital health passes have been subject to fierce opposition. The most common issue is privacy fears — people worry about sharing their personal and sensitive health data with the private companies creating digital health passes.

Others worry that a digital system would isolate some communities, including those that do not have access to the internet or smartphones. The World Health Organization (WHO) said it does not support requiring vaccination passports for travel yet because of equity concerns. WHO is working with a number of agencies, like UNICEF, ITU, and the European Commission, to establish the standards and specifications of a possible globally recognized digital vaccination certificate.

When asked about the future of digital health passports, Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said in a statement: “Any solutions in this area should be simple, free, open source, accessible to people both digitally and on paper, and designed from the start to protect people’s privacy.”