The COVID Crisis and Digital Solutions to Fight It
By: Robin Ankele
Tags: Track And Trace Solutions, Immunity Certificate, Covid Free Certificate, Co Vid, Digital Solutions

The COVID Crisis

Unless you are in a coma for the last 6-months, I am sure you know the havoc COVID has brought to this blue planet. After the sustained lockdowns in most countries, governments around the world must reopen society and economy. And, we need digital tools and measures to protect healthcare services and at the same time, maintain human and civil rights. In addition any of these technologies must be: (a) accessible by the vast majority of the population, (b) be accurate and secure in their assertions, (c) be consistent and compliant with wide-reaching policies and our civil principles and (d) privacy-respecting and non-discriminatory.

The SARS‑CoV‑2 virus

Track and Trace: Tracing Apps

Early on governments, academic institutions and industry around the globe have been exploring the use of proximity tracking apps to trace people infected with Covid-19. The idea of these apps is to track and trace any person who reports themselves with symptoms and following a positive Covid test, others who have been in close proximity with the candidate can get informed to self-isolate and obtain a Covid test themselves. South Korea was one of the first countries to mandate contact tracing via location tracking bracelets and mobile phone data. Since then two main approaches have been established: (a) centralised tracing apps and (b) decentralised tracing apps.

Track and Tracing apps

Notably, three high-scale approaches evolved with a collaboration of over 130 members of industry and academia. Firstly, the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT/PEPP) protocol is using bluetooth and a centralised server to identify matches of Covid positive cases. Secondly, the Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (DP-3T) protocol is also using bluetooth and a decentralised server to identify matches. Thirdly, Google and Apple introduced a privacy-preserving contact tracing framework that works on both types of phones — iPhones and Android phones.

Sadly, however, there hasn’t been a significant uptake by communities around the world and the fear of being traced and tracked has given rise to several privacy issues.

Immunity Passports: Towards Proving Immunity?

Whilst tracing is an important step to prevent the virus from spreading, proving one’s immunity status via vaccination, antigen test or antibody test is another tool in the arsenal. To ensure the safe return of people into public spaces and workplaces, it is therefore of utmost importance to securely and accurately prove one’s immunity status without sacrificing their privacy. So called ‘Immunity certificates’ or ‘Immunity passports’ — the term that misnomer our opinion — ascertain a holder’s identity and their immunity status. Ideally such certificates are issued by certified providers such as the NHS in the UK or any other health care provider around the globe.

Companies such as Onfido, Yoti, Mvine, among others have proposed such certificates often by forcing the use of identity documents to link to a person’s identity and/or by the use of their existing applications.

While such certificates would enable a person to participate in society and economy, such endeavours are often more tricky in practice:

Unfortunately, since the pandemic outbreak there is not yet a known vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 virus. Researchers around the world are currently working very hard to create a vaccine that could help save the lives of many people. Immunity is not yet proven once one contracted and surpassed the disease. For example, the WHO warned against the use of immunity certificates, since there is no evidence that surpassing the disease and having antibodies would protect against a second infection. Immunity certificates have to coincide with policies to enable a safe and fair return of individuals to society and economy. The Ada Lovelace Institute warns against discrimination and stigmatisation in case of the assertion of immunity with someone’s identity.

Covid-free Certificates: Prove You Are Covid-free!

Since a recent study has shown that immunity may not last for a long time, and may be lost after a few months, another approach contrasting immunity certificates has been given rise: so-called ‘Covid-free certificates’ or ‘Risk-free certificates’. Technically speaking, these ‘Covid-free certificates’ are the same as ‘Immunity certificates’ except that the validity of the ‘Covid-free certificates’ are a few days, instead of months.

While an immunity certificate would prove someone’s immunity towards the disease, a Covid-free certificate shows, with a high probability, that a person currently does not have the disease. To achieve that, a person first has to conduct a Covid test. Then, given a negative outcome of the test, the likelihood of that person contracting, developing the disease and being the spreader should be marginally low, within a certain period of time — often 72 hours.

Another recent study has shown that the median incubation period is 5 days, from which time on a person typically shows symptoms of the disease.

For such kinds of certificates to work, there have to be a set of minimum requirements: at the core, such certificates must link one’s Covid test status to the identity of a person.

Further requirements to support a fair, non-discriminatory and inclusive handling of such certificates includes: (a) supporting everyone, (b) being tamper-proof, (c) being simple to handle, (d) support audits and are verifiable, (e) open-sourced for public scrutiny, (f) privacy-respecting, and (g) do not require existing application and any hard identity documents (such as a passport or driving license).