COVID-19 smart air pass card

الملخص EN

Adam, 70 years old, was travelling to X country and when arriving at the airport he could not go through the customs clearance office because he did not download the required national mobile application on his mobile to prove COVID-19 vaccination status.

X country, like many other countries, requires every person to download a national application and upload specific documents, mainly the one proving that the person is vaccinated against COVID-19.

the process of checking and approving the uploaded documents involves human being check, which is subject to errors and takes time.

besides, these national applications are recognised only within the boundaries of their issuing governments.

to overcome the recognition issue, IATA and several international bodies developed digital vaccine passports to restore free movement between countries.

this research provides a comparative analytical study to these applications focussing on the disadvantages that arose from such apps such as discrimination and jeopardising users’ privacy and the surveillance risk.

to overcome these disadvantages, this article suggests the development of a COVID-19 smart card (CSC) similar to a bank card, which contains a microchip where the relevant data can be obtained by scanning.

data included in CSC are to be updated whenever and wherever the users’ COVID-19-related data change.

to protect it from theft or any illegal usage by another person other than the owner, with every scan, validation is required either by a fingerprint, an eye print or a facial recognition.

blockchain technology must also be used to protect its data against hackers.