Governments can authenticate health records using Blockchain and QR codes.
The Hong Kong government is leading the way, implementing CommonPass to make it easier to obtain immunization certificates and test results.
The outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic wreaked havoc on numerous industries, particularly the aviation industry. The introduction of travel prohibitions, on the other hand, helped to curb the spread of the virus, but also had a significant impact on entrepreneurs whose businesses require them to travel internationally.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2020 will be the worst year in tourism history. The number of international tourists plummeted by one billion, resulting in a $1.3 trillion loss in revenue. One of the worst-affected countries, Hong Kong, saw a 94 percent drop in tourist arrivals from 2018 to 2019. Only 3.4 million people were counted as visitors.
With the launch of the Covid-19 vaccine, things are beginning to change. Most nations now require travelers to have a current Covid-19 vaccination passport before entering. Malicious actors have been seen to be capable of fabricating phony Covid-19 test results or even medical records that pass verification. As a result, Hong Kong authorities are looking at cryptographic technologies like blockchain and digital signatures to authenticate, safeguard, and privatize health records.
A digital vaccine passport, according to Dimitris Papadopoulos, assistant professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s Computer Science and Engineering Department, can guarantee validity regardless of the form it takes. When the digital vaccine passport incorporates cryptographic signatures, local regulators will be able to issue digital certifications to hospitals, immunization centers, and testing labs.
Each certificate will also have a corresponding secret cryptographic key that will allow digital health records produced by authorized health institutions to be signed.
Hong Kong is investigating potential cryptography technologies.
Travelers having digital health records will have their documents reviewed for legitimacy at various checkpoints that contain a list of recognized health institutions.
The same digital signature technology that has long been used to secure our online banking transactions may now be used to verify that the records in a digital vaccine passport are secure.
The Hong Kong government is working to implement The Commons Project’s CommonPass digital vaccine passport solution. It will give local clinicians access to immunizations and test results. The Medoxie Covid-19 Digital Health Passport, also known as the Covid-19 vaccine wallet, was developed by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Consensys, a US Ethereum blockchain development company, as another example of the combination of blockchain with QR codes. Phones with QR codes make traveling easier and safer.
Despite the fact that the report claims that cryptographic technologies make covid-19 vaccination passports private and secure, some experts believe there will be issues because to discrepancies in legislation between countries.
When an individual travels between nations with differing policies and norms governing the type of digital health vaccine passport necessary, according to Papadopoulos, issues may occur.
The Commons Project’s executive chairperson, Jennifer Zhu Scott, concurred.
Countries were forced to shut down due to the same issue: a lack of trust and Covid-related data interoperability between countries.
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