Vaccine passports: Is the government building a national digital identity database?

Holidays may be ahead but with the NHS app being used as the so-called vaccine passport, Steve Boggan asks if there is an ulterior motive

Thursday 29 April 2021 19:10 BST
Comments
<p>Putting vaccine passports on the NHS app could put people’s medical data at risk of being breached  </p>

Putting vaccine passports on the NHS app could put people’s medical data at risk of being breached

When transport secretary Grant Shapps announced this week that the NHS app – not the one doing test and trace, but the one that lets you book appointments with your GP – was going to house our much-awaited vaccine passports, the news was greeted with general delight.

At last! Holidays were on the near horizon and they would provide just the tonic we all needed after almost a year and a half of Covid pandemic misery.

What few were asking in the general celebration was just why the NHS App – which also provides a portal into our GP medical records – had been chosen as the vehicle to get us on to airplanes and across international borders.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in