Re: rapid COVID-19 testing / Abbott NAVICA boarding pass

Thanks for the share Ryan! Definitely these are trends we're seeing deployed across the world happening whether we like it or not, and each deployment comes with its own risks and benefits profile. The benefits are clear, in that we can open up our economies, return towards normalcy, and stop living in fear. However, the risks especially to privacy are also important to highlight as you allude to, and in this did-core GitHub issue, Adrian Gropper has done some work summarizing some important concerns (including from the EFF) and also proposing a solution path:

https://github.com/w3c/did-core/issues/370

Especially concerning to me are issues with "habituation to present strong credentials" that lower the barrier to entry for those on the advantaged side of asymmetric power dynamics asking "papers please". If you keep all your verifiable credentials in a way presentable anywhere and to anyone from your phone, how does it affect the adoption, frequency, and intrusiveness of information checkpoints?

P.S. hot off the press, "RFC8890: The Internet is for End Users": https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8890

On Fri, Aug 28, 2020, at 8:44 AM, Ryan Grant wrote:
> On the plus side, cheap fast tests are coming.  On the minus side,
> they made an app that you will be forced to use.
> 
>   https://www.abbott.com/BinaxNOW-Test-NAVICA-App.html
> 
>     [...manufacturing capacity soon to be:] 50 million tests a month
> 
>     We're pairing this $5, 15-minute, easy-to-use test with a mobile
>     app, called NAVICA, which works like a secure digital "boarding
>     pass" that can be scanned to enter organizations and other places
>     where people gather.
> 
>   
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/white-house-announces-deal-to-provide-150-million-rapid-coronavirus-tests/2020/08/27/cb3c4eba-e8ab-11ea-970a-64c73a1c2392_story.html
> 
>     "White House announces deal to provide 150 million rapid
>     coronavirus tests"
> 
>

Received on Friday, 28 August 2020 13:43:07 UTC