Privacy International has published the article “Anytime and anywhere”: Vaccination, immunity certificates, and the permanent pandemic on the site of EDRi [*].
Their key findings:
- Until everyone has access to an effective vaccine, any system requiring a passport for entry or service will be unfair.
- Governments must find alternatives to delivering vaccination schemes which do not perpetuate and reinforce exclusionary and discriminatory practices.
- Covid Immunity cannot be a justification for expanding or instating digital identity schemes.
They warn that public health and identity systems are a potentially toxic mix and worry about function creep:
PI have also expressed their deep concern with the “function creep” aspect of “immunity certificates”: how it becomes a segue to the more general rollout of digital ID, or for new applications such as in sectors of “law enforcement”, counter-terrorism and immigration enforcement.
[*] EDRi is the European network of NGOs, experts, advocates and academics working to defend and advance digital rights across the continent.
