‘Your Face Will Be Your Covid Credential’

April 15th, 2021

Awake Goy

The UK government is funding companies that are producing technology which will utilize digital face scans to check people’s vaccination status and allow or block them from entering pubs, stadiums and other venues.

Supported by the government, iProov is working to create a future in which facial scans could dictate our access to many parts of society.

“Whoever is standing on the door of the pub is going to have to scan the certificate, read the name and date of birth, then ask the person for an ID document, check that the name and date of birth on the ID document are the same, squint at the photograph on the ID document and then make sure that the person in front of them is that person,” iProov CEO Andrew Bud said. “To which the answer is, that’s not going to happen.”
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Bud says that iProov is also working on alternative methods of verification, but that he believes facial biometrics provide more “integrity” in identification. Such data can only be used for public health purposes, and must include “active, informed, revocable consent”, as required by the 2018 Data Protection Act.

The plan being developed by the two companies would indeed see people stare into a smartphone camera, which would use facial recognition to check against NHS data on vaccination and coronavirus test status, reportedly within seconds. https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfX0%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1376060484290494470&lang=en-gb&origin=https%3A%2F%2Ftruthtalk.uk%2F2021%2Fyour-face-will-be-your-covid-credential%2F&sessionId=a02d12b5be129f9e4a733b96ae238699a30e51fb&theme=light&widgetsVersion=1ead0c7%3A1617660954974&width=550px

Bud has also said that the facial recognition system would reduce this process to a matter of seconds, streamlining the system. “It speeds the process up and it absolves people of what would otherwise be a very heavy responsibility.”

This Orwellian type tech has been widely adopted in supposedly more authoritarian countries such as communist China and Russia, which has installed over 200 million surveillance cameras across the country as a part of its so-called ‘Skynet’ system. https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-3&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfX0%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1376664365856866304&lang=en-gb&origin=https%3A%2F%2Ftruthtalk.uk%2F2021%2Fyour-face-will-be-your-covid-credential%2F&sessionId=a02d12b5be129f9e4a733b96ae238699a30e51fb&theme=light&widgetsVersion=1ead0c7%3A1617660954974&width=550px

This underscores the fact that the ‘vaccine passport’ is digital identity as a service and that your face will unlock you whenever you want to engage in basic commerce or other normal leisure activity.

But what happens to people who withhold consent for their biometric data to be used in this way?

“Whether a pub is entitled to refuse access because someone hasn’t given consent to their face verification is a choice for that pub,” Bud says. “It’s a choice for civil society to take a view as to whether that should take place or not”.

“I think that people will be willing to make a one-off investment in enrolling their face,” Bud said. “If you have to go through this rather convoluted process of getting the certificate set up, enrolling your face… then that’s an investment.” https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-4&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfX0%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1376096466339565569&lang=en-gb&origin=https%3A%2F%2Ftruthtalk.uk%2F2021%2Fyour-face-will-be-your-covid-credential%2F&sessionId=a02d12b5be129f9e4a733b96ae238699a30e51fb&theme=light&widgetsVersion=1ead0c7%3A1617660954974&width=550px

“If the result is that you can turn up to a thing, show your QR code, present your face, and you’re through – that’s a lot faster, and a lot more private than the alternatives.”

So this quantifies the Vaccine Passport plans being developed by iProov Mvine would indeed see people stare into a smartphone camera, tablet or an attached camera system, which would use biometric facial recognition to check against their NHS vaccination data and coronavirus test status within seconds.

On the Iproov website the company is a world leader in facial biometrics, they say “We authenticate remote users online for onboarding and verification using Genuine Presence Assurance Experts say touchless modalities will likely grow while fingerprint, other touch-based solutions will see their use decline.”

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Covid-status certificates could lead to deliberate infections, scientists warn

Covid-status certificates – to allow those who have been vaccinated, recovered from the virus or have tested negative to attend an event or holiday abroad – could do harm as well as good, UK government science advisers have warned.

While they could encourage some people to get vaccinated, the scientists say others may deliberately go out to get infected, in order to test positive for antibodies and get a certificate enabling them to mix more freely.

They say certificates, like vaccine passports, may also encourage people to behave as though they are no longer at risk, discarding masks and ignoring social distancing.

The paper, which has not yet been peer reviewed, was written by a group of eight psychologists and behavioural scientists, all but one of whom take part in the government advisory body on the pandemic known as Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (SPI-B).

Their paper reviews the studies so far carried out of people’s attitudes and likely behaviours if immunity certificates are adopted.

“Allowing people to return to work, meet socially, and fulfil care obligations brings many social, emotional and economic benefits,” write John Drury, social psychology professor at the University of Sussex, and his colleagues.

“Indeed, it might be considered unethical to restrict the movements of those who pose minimal risk to others. Depending on how it is applied, health certification could also encourage vaccination uptake. It also has the potential for harm.

“One concern from a behavioural perspective is that certification may foster an erroneous sense of no risk – both in those with and those without certificates –resulting in behaviours that increase risk of infection or transmission.

“In addition, immunity certification based on a test-positive result for antibodies could have a paradoxical effect on health protective behaviours whereby people deliberately seek infection in order to acquire a certificate.”

Health status certificates are not a new idea, they point out. In the 15th century, printed health passes were used to allow trade and travel during the plague in Europe. They certified only that the bearer had come from a plague-free city.