Israel lockdown7/26/2023 ![]() ![]() For example, proposals have been floated that would require teachers and medical staff to provide proof of vaccination or a negative test to gain admittance to their workplaces. It’s unclear what the US-which, unlike Israel, doesn’t have a universal identity record or a cohesive medical records system-would need to do to implement a vaccine passport quickly.īut whichever options eventually do make it into widespread use, there are also aspects of this idea that don’t get laid out in the ads. Compared with Israel, he says, “we’re making things unnecessarily complicated in the US.” The way forward ![]() He suggests that right now commercial interests are getting in the way of creating something so simple-it wouldn’t make much money for software companies, which at least want to show off something that could be repurposed later in a more profitable form. It’s important for companies not to create another “hackable repository” when they view your information, he adds. It’s not just about making sure you don’t have to hand over personal information to get into a bar, though: privacy is also important for those who are undocumented or who mistrust the government, Raskar says. But other situations may require more information: an airline wants to know that you are who you say you are, for example, and hospitals need accurate medical records. “Getting on a bus, or getting into a concert, you need to have a solution that is very easy to use and that provides a level of privacy protection,” he says. The paper card could offer multiple forms of verification, scannable in the form of QR codes, allowing you to show a concert gatekeeper only your vaccination status while displaying another, more information-heavy option to health-care providers. Their prototype uses a paper card, similar to the one people currently receive when they’re vaccinated. Ramesh Raskar runs the PathCheck Foundation at MIT, which has partnered with the design consultancy Ideo on a low-tech solution. In the US, developers are trying to address such privacy concerns ahead of any major rollout. Although that’s possible, the app is expected to become the most widespread verification method. Zik recommends another option currently available under the green pass program: downloading a paper vaccination certificate instead of using the app. “This is a catastrophe in the making,” says Ran Bar Zik, a software columnist for the newspaper Haaretz. Crucially, because the app is not open source, no third-party experts can vet whether these concerns are founded. The app also uses an outdated encryption library that is more vulnerable to security breaches, Orr says. He says the pass reveals information that those checking credentials don’t need to know, such as the date a user recovered from covid or got a vaccine. ![]() ![]() The green pass is also a potential privacy nightmare, says Orr Dunkelman, a computer science professor at Haifa University and a board member of Privacy Israel. Some ethicists argue that such programs may further entrench existing inequalities, and this is already happening with Israel’s pass, since few Palestinians in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank have access to vaccines. Despite the flashy ads, however, it’s still too early to tell how well Israel’s program will work in practice-or what that will mean for vaccine passports in general. ![]()
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