Liberty: Immunity passports pave way for national ID system

Liberty has responded to news the NHS Test and Trace app could be used as ‘immunity passports’ to record people’s vaccination status and be used as a condition to travel.

Sam Grant, head of policy and campaigns at Liberty, said:

“Immunity passports raise more questions than they answer. At the moment we don’t know how our privacy would be protected, who will have access to our data, or how it could be used in conjunction with other information.

“But perhaps even more concerning is the fact immunity passports could pave the way for a national ID system – an idea which has repeatedly been rejected as incompatible with building a rights-respecting society.

“Once immunity passports have been created their use could be expanded resulting in people who don’t have immunity potentially being blocked from essential public services, work or housing – with the most marginalised among us hardest hit.

“Recent digital projects have also given plenty of reason for public trust to be low about such proposals. In recent weeks we have seen coronavirus data lost through bad management, and only last year the Home Office had to apologise to EU nationals and Windrush citizens in the space of a week for data breaches.

“We have always supported proportionate action to protect lives, but immunity passports aren’t that.”