Are coronavirus digital immunity passports from start-ups ethical? Fintech company TransferWise created digital immunity passports that would be provided to people who have recovered from Covid-19 or were asymptomatic.
The idea of linking one’s identity to a coronavirus test result is being tested in Estonia. However, TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus clarifies that they would wait for a scientific consensus on Covid-19 immunity before they release the digital immunity passports to the public.
“We need to come to an agreement about immunity,” he told CNBC. “There seems to be agreement in the scientific community that antibodies do exist to Covid-19, but there is no agreement about parameters.”
“Do they last three months or three years? We don’t know that. There has to be a conclusion to that before this can be rolled out in any wider way.”
Testing drives that are more affordable and accessible would be critical in issuing immunity passports, Hinrikus said.
Critics are concerned about the digital immunity passports not being ethical because one’s immunity status will be shared with third parties like airports, employers, or restaurants.
British start-ups Onfido and Yoti and Germany’s IDNow are among the companies working on tech to develop immunity passports.
Effectiveness
However, many scientists are not convinced these passports will be effective.
“I don’t think immunity passports are really a way forward,” Dr. Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at the University of Reading, told CNBC. “They’re a great idea but I don’t think they stand up to scrutiny.”
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) asked governments not to dive into distributing physical or digital immunity passports because the extent to which antibody tests confer immunity remains uncertain.
“I think we’re way off knowing for sure what makes somebody immune,” said Clarke. Using the analogy of an orchestra, he added: “Worrying about antibodies is a bit like worrying that the wind section is playing loud enough and not the whole orchestra.”
Clarke noted that antibodies are not the “be all and end all” of immunity and may take “a few days to a couple of weeks” to be produced. He said there are other factors that must be taken into account, like virus-killing T cells.
Privileges
Some experts find online immunity certificates unethical as they would provide certain privileges to people who have had Covid-19 and may even encourage others to get the disease just to get an immune status.
“We’re doing our best to stop people getting it so they don’t spread it,” Clarke said, adding immunity passports could “lead to people falsifying their antibody tests.”
According to the report from artificial intelligence research group the Ada Lovelace Institute, immunity passports “pose extremely high risks in terms of social cohesion, discrimination, exclusion and vulnerability.”
The TransferWise team admits immunity passports aren’t a “perfect solution,” said Harsh Sinha, the firm’s chief technology officer. He added that it’s an “iterative” approach that can change with the science on coronavirus immunity.
“The reality today is that, whether we have data and this information on immunity or not, states in the U.S. or countries in Europe and Asia are opening,” Sinha told CNBC.
“Without data, it’s a much bigger risk than if you have been tested and you control who can see your test results and have a system that allows you to disclose that information.”
Meanwhile, the company is prepared to “move on” if antibody tests do not confer immunity. “We all know this is a possible outcome,” said Sinha.
