Tech5 and Vision-Box launch biometric immunity passports, SITA adds health status capability

New digital credentials for proving vaccination to enable travel and other activities have been launched by Tech5, and through a new partnership formed by Vision-Box and Airside, while SITA has launched a health status platform to integrate with its biometric passenger systems. Digital health status credentials from Daon, IATA’s partnership with Evernym, and Clear are being adopted meanwhile by a major event venue, an airline, and several different businesses, respectively, and Denmark is planning to stand up its own vaccine passport.

Tech5 develops biometric mobile ID for vaccination proofing on or offline

A new approach to biometric mobile ID for proof of vaccination against COVID-19 has been developed by Tech5, the company has announced, with offline status verification performed within seconds and no link to any other personal data.

The company says its T5-Mobile ID solution is completely inclusive and private, and gives people control of their own identity. It enables verifying parties to check vaccination status anywhere, without requiring network access, a check against a remote database, or even a smartphone. Printed vaccination proofing certificates can be matched to their bearer with biometrics, Tech5 says.

Tech5 Strategic Advisor Rob Haslam notes that digital ID solutions to help restore more normal operations around the world are regularly announced. “But most, besides being unproven, are fundamentally flawed in a number of ways: some rely on being connected to national or medical databases or linked to government-issued IDs; few, if any, address the issue of foolproof verification (how do I know the person presenting the credential is who they say they are?); and all seem to rely on everyone having an up-to-date smartphone,” he states. “Many also need the verifying party to be online to check vaccination status.”

In a video the company explains that vaccinating entities to issue a digitally-verifiable credential, a cryptograph which looks similar to a QR code. The app records the vaccination status at the date of the shot, along with selfie biometric data, to the cryptograph. Organizations can check individuals’ status by downloading the verifying software to a smartphone, another mobile device, or a fixed terminal or kiosk.

The biometric data is checked by the verifying device without transmitting the biometric data or storing it. A compressed image is shared with the verifying party for visual confirmation, and biometric authentication can be performed with face biometrics, or iris, fingerprint or voice recognition, for additional assurance and security.

In addition to vaccination, the T5-Mobile ID can be used for proving a negative test or an antibody test.

Vision-Box and Airside partner on digital health passport

Vision-Box has established a strategic partnership with Airside Mobile, which developed the Mobile Passport App, to offer a secure, touchless digital ID platform for seamless travel and health status verification.

Airside’s Digital Identity & Health Passport App will be integrated with Vision-Box’s Orchestra platform to personalize the travel experience and give individuals control of their sensitive data with transparent consent protocols, the companies say. Vision-Box claims its Privacy-by-Design certification and Airside’s distributed architecture ensure that data protection laws, regulations and international standards are adhered to.

Vision-Box’s platform enables users to confirm their identities with biometrics through self-service processes, with real-time data orchestration giving stakeholders actionable intelligence. Travelers can add digital credentials, including COVID lab results as well as passports and drivers’ licenses, to the Airside Digital Identity App through a single enrollment, with data stored on the user’s encrypted device.

“We are absolutely delighted to start the new year by announcing our strategic partnership with Airside, a very important ally for the company in expanding personalized experiences on the Orchestra platform,” says Vision-Box VP of Strategic Sales and Global Partnerships Jeff Lennon. “Airside also shares our commitment to enhancing safe passenger travel journeys, and with this partnership we will be able to deliver world class privacy-by-design solutions to our clients across the world, starting with the USA.”

Airside also partnered with Tascent on a biometric travel solution late last year.

SITA launches health data platform

SITA has launched a health data platform to integrate with a variety of travel pass schemes, such as AOK, CommonPass, IATA’s (see below) and SimplyGo.

The company’s Health Protect solution can be used to share health data such as PCR test results or vaccination history, in accordance with business or government requirements. This functionality is combined with Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) capabilities to support seamless, contactless passenger journeys. The health data platform integrates with SITA’s Advance Passenger Processing platform and credential schemes like SimplyGo, as well as existing passenger processing systems, biometric or otherwise.

A trial has already been successfully held with people traveling to the United Arab Emirates, and another is about to begin at Milan Malpensa Airport, according to the announcement.

Daon, IATA and Clear solutions adopted in several industries

The Pennsylvania Convention Center has selected Daon’s VeriFLY digital health passport to support a safe return to work for its employees and contractors with biometrics.

VeriFLY has been implemented to enable building access through multiple entrances, with employees completing a self-certified health questionnaire to provide real-time health information.

“In almost any industry and workspace design, mobile device-based identity and health credentials – secured with biometric authentication technology – can enable businesses to re-establish customer trust and safely welcome back their employees,” comments Tom Grissen, Daon CEO. “This is particularly true in the hospitality and tourism industry, and we are proud to work with innovators like the Pennsylvania Convention Authority as it fulfills its commitment to a safe reopening and a healthy environment for employees and patrons.”

The Pennsylvania Convention Center is the 14th-largest facility in the country, according to the announcement.

American Airlines has been rolling out VeriFLY for biometric health status checks since late last year.

Copa Airlines has selected IATA’s Travel Pass, developed in collaboration with Evernym, to authenticates users’ health status with selfie biometrics matched against Passport data.

Adoption of the Travel Pass has already been announced by Qatar Airlines, Emirates and Etihad, and the Panama-based Copa Airlines will be the first carrier to introduce it in the Americas.

Clear CEO Caryn Seidman-Becker tells Travel + Leisure that the second half of 2021 will be significantly better than the first half, in part due to solutions like Clear’s Health Pass.

The solution from Clear has already been adopted by the AT&T Center in San Antonio, the Amway Center in Orlando, office buildings and restaurants owned by Danny Meyer. The company has been thinking about health credentials since the pandemic began, according to Seidman-Becker.

“Our view was, ‘vaccines are coming,'” she says. “We’re going to live in this complex, hybrid world for quite a while… You can’t have one product for testing and then a different product for vaccines, we have to link to them all and we do, Clear can be considered a vaccination passport.”

Denmark’s government has announced it is partnering with unnamed businesses to develop a digital vaccine passport, the Associated Press reports.

The plan is to launch the application in three to four months, storing vaccination records on people’s mobile phones, according to a public presentation.  The presentation was delivered by business group the Confederation of Danish Industries and the Danish Chamber of Commerce, along with government representatives.

The European Commission is weighing the use of vaccine passports for travel, but for now has committed only to using them for health purposes like tracking adverse reactions to the vaccine.

Estonia announced this week it would wave quarantine requirements for travelers who can show proof of vaccination in Estonian, English or Russian.

Article Topics

Airside Mobile  |  biometrics  |  credentials  |  Daon  |  digital identity  |  Evernym  |  identity verification  |  International Air Transport Association  |  mobile app  |  SITA  |  TECH5  |  travel and tourism  |  Vision-Box