BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, has warned that digital vaccine passports come with both ethical and data privacy challenges.

The institute said that these passports could mean entry to cinemas or pubs is “denied by an algorithmic decision.”

It warned that a situation may arise where going to leisure venues around the UK could demand as much "linked data" from people as international travel.

In February it was announced that cabinet office minister Michael Gove would lead a review into the possible adoption of vaccine passports.

The EU has also recently revealed plans to roll out a digital travel passport by the summer, which will allow people who have been vaccinated, or tested negative to covid-19, to prove that they meet free movement criteria.

“It is not necessary to create any central digital identifiers for vaccine validation purposes, but some countries may be tempted to,” said Adam Leon Smith, chair of BCS’ software testing group. “One reason that healthcare authorities might want to identify people centrally is to manage the vaccination process itself, another might be to exclude vaccinated individuals from particular mass testing activities.

He added: “But then you can easily imagine how this data might be joined with other information, such as address, or key worker status. All with sensible intentions, but care needs to be taken that this data is not mis-used. One example of inappropriate use could be calculation of a risk score, and denial of rights or services to someone because of an algorithmic decision.”

The BCS chair advised that with personal risk calculations, putting this data inside an app can “extrapolate the findings in ways that weren’t originally intended."

“It is vital to convince people that the passport will be ethical by design for it to be supported by large numbers of the population and the key organisations who’ll make it work,” he concluded.

Rick Chandler, who chairs BCS’ communications management association, and was on the steering group for the UK ID Card, said: “To give mobile-based digital ID sufficient International credibility it would be necessary for the Government to insist on full registration even when purchasing, say, a Pay as you Go SIM. This is normal in many countries. Secure Fingerprint cards and QR could be used as well.

He said: “I can envisage ‘non-vac’ areas in pubs and restaurants much like the “no-smoking” areas and it should be a matter of individual choice and managed ethically.”

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