London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

UK’s Covid-19 app can be converted into vaccine certificate whether Brits want it or not – reports

UK’s Covid-19 app can be converted into vaccine certificate whether Brits want it or not – reports

The National Health Service app initially developed for users to show their Covid-19 test results can be converted into a digital vaccine certificate without further technical alterations – bad news for the privacy-conscious.
In December, Cabinet Minister Michael Gove unilaterally denied Britons would be required to show a “vaccine passport” to enter businesses, eat at restaurants, attend events, or travel, insisting “that’s not the plan” and reassuring citizens’ right to privacy would remain intact.

However, London appears to have changed its mind on the issue, as Downing Street considers permitting businesses to “demand to see the app to ensure that staff or customers are at a much lower risk of being infectious,” according to a Tuesday report from the Times.
Gove himself will spearhead a probe of the “‘deep

and complex’ issues around vaccine passports,” which the government had admitted just earlier this month were discriminatory.

The probe is expected to focus entirely on “ethical and clinical questions” as opposed to technical ones, suggesting the technological frameworks to snoop on users’ medical information is already all available on the app.

Even more ominously, the NHS contact tracing app was described as too privacy-friendly for vaccine-certification purposes – though the appointment-booking companion app has been put forward as acceptable. That app provides access to a person’s medical records, though the agency acknowledges that even a negative result doesn’t prove the bearer is non-infectious.

The NHS app’s initial rollout was notoriously glitch-laden, at one point reportedly telling over a third of users to self-isolate even if they hadn’t left their homes, let alone been exposed to any infections – notifications which can’t be turned off and continued to freak users out for months. The NHS blamed the errors on Apple and Google.

The app developers clearly have big dreams for their technology, which will also incorporate facial recognition technology from iProov. The company received £75,000 from government agency InnovateUK for its work on vaccine passports, and Test and Trace head Baroness Harding of Winscombe boasted in November that she was “working very closely with the vaccine team to make sure that as we build tools that will enable people to be testing themselves at home…we build an integrated data architecture so that you have the opportunity in the future to be able to have a single record as a citizen of your test results and whether you’ve been vaccinated.”

While the UK initially had promised not to force vaccine certificates upon its constituents, acknowledging the potential for discrimination, the country seems to have fallen in line behind former PM Tony Blair, whose Tony Blair Institute urged the UK to “place the creation of a global Covid-19 travel pass as a key item” on the G7 agenda.

Despite the appalling ramifications for privacy, Blair said “it” – meaning “dramatically increased technological surveillance” – will happen anyway, implying it was better to have the UK help midwife such a development into being than be forced into accepting another country’s technology. The World Health Organization has also championed the use of e-vaccination certificates for global travel, though shied away from mandating immunity passports domestically.

Tens of thousands of UK residents have signed petitions urging the government to avoid vaccine passports for travel or otherwise, and some businesses have taken the initiative to enforce even stricter regulations on their customers. Supermarket chain Morrisons ignored a customer who claimed to have a disability when he refused to put on a mask in the store, slapping an ignominious yellow sticker on him – drawing comparisons to Nazi Germany from some.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×