Are Vaccine Passports a breach of your Privacy Rights?
Coronavirus is claiming the lives of thousands of people every day. Some countries have implemented complete or partial lockdown to break the chain. The federal government has proactively taken steps to avoid community spread. The government also announced a massive vaccination drive for its citizens to curb the virus. According to the latest covid vaccinations statistics in Canada released on 4th June 2021, “over four-fifths of adults in the territorial capitals (80.3%) had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by mid-April, with 38.5% of all adults being fully vaccinated, having received their second dose”.
Vaccination is considered an effective way to break the chain of coronavirus. It has yielded positive results for the fight against Covid19 and its variants across the globe. Canada is now contemplating opening borders and workplaces. But would the people be mandated to produce vaccine passports and what would be the privacy consequences associated with it?
What is Vaccine Passport?
A vaccine passport is a digital identification of fully Covid19 vaccinated people allowing them to undertake travel and participate in public life. The document contains the personal health information of the individual and may be used by industries, commercial enterprises, and the government to confirm people’s vaccine status.
Israel’s app-based vaccine passport allows people to show their inoculated status against COVID-19 to gain access to public places such as restaurants, swimming pools, gyms, and cinemas. Effective from 31 July 2021, the EU Digital COVID Certificate designed on similar lines will facilitate the safe free movement of EU citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a certificate will contain a QR code with necessary information as well as a digital signature.
The purpose of the vaccine passport is four-fold, to determine safe travelers/workers, create vaccine records, create normalcy, and in a way encourage people to get vaccinated.
Canada’s Stand On Vaccine Passports
With the pressure mounting on the Canadian government to open the international borders and domestic markets, Canada will likely implement similar policies as the EU and Israel. Quebec has already started rolling out QR codes for people as digital proof of vaccination. This would encourage people to work and travel freely to Canada, however, there are a few privacy concerns that are expected along the way.
Privacy Concerns with Vaccine Passports
Canadian government’s joint statement released by the federal, provincial, and territorial Privacy Commissioners on May 19, 2021, addresses the privacy issues concerning digital vaccine documents. The statement while recognizing the need and benefits of the vaccine passports raises certain privacy concerns. The civil liberties to travel and to gain access to services or places must be carefully balanced with the privacy rights of individuals. When private organizations verify the vaccine status of individuals, they also get acquainted with their personal health information. Therefore, vaccine passports must be developed considering privacy laws.
It is important to monitor the risks involved, necessity, proportionality as well as effectiveness. Once the purpose of these passports is served or no longer effective, they must be discontinued. It is also important to have legitimate authority to ask for such passports. The government would need to clarify, the scope and legitimacy of the authority. Moreover, the debate around consent must be addressed. If the consent needs to be voluntary, it may pose challenges when business entities such as restaurants ask for it or more so retain certain aspects of the information for record purposes. The individuals may not feel comfortable disclosing their vaccine status and other personal health information before private entities. The retention of information, if any may be subject to cyber threats and ransomware. Any data breach of vaccine data may prove disastrous.
The applicability of the Personal Health Information Protection Act , 2004 (Ontario) would be interesting in this context. The definition of Health Information Custodian is exhaustive and if it is deemed to include the centers issuing vaccine passports, then the provisions under the Act need to be compiled. The privacy standards under the Act need a proper procedure for data collection, storage, disclosure, and protection.
Conclusion
Civil liberties can be balanced if the people and government work together. As suggested in the joint statement, only information necessary must be disclosed. For private business entities, such information can be further limited, the QR code can be designed to use as an entry pass in private enterprises rather than reflecting significant personal details. Additionally, once international travelers are allowed in Canada, a uniform system for verification of inoculated status must be implemented and facilitated.
The content of this post is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter and express purely academic views of the author. Specialist legal advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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