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The United Kingdom could follow the lead of the European Union and Communist China in implementing a digital ID out of a “redeployed” vaccine passport, a firm developing a health pass for the government has said.
Civil rights campaigners have warned that “mission creep” could result in the UK using a vaccine passport as a pseudo national ID card after an American IT company contracted by the British government to develop a “Covid Certification” pass suggested that the health passes could become part of the “new normal”.
Entrust, which describes itself as a “global leader in identities, payments, and data protection”, was given £250,000 by the UK in May to develop cloud software for the government’s Covid-status certification scheme run by NHSX — the digital arm of the nation’s socialised healthcare system.
In a February blog post, the product marketing director for the firm, Jenn Markey said that “vaccine credentials can become part of the infrastructure of the new normal”.
“With the infrastructure and investment necessary to ensure a viable vaccine passport, why not redeploy this effort into a national citizen ID program that can be used for multiple purposes, including the secure delivery of government services, secure cross-border travel, and documentation of vaccination,” she suggested.
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