Care home pilots biometric digital health passport

Enduring Net EN-Covid19 biometric digital health passport
VERIFICATION: The digital passport holder’s Covid-19 status can be accessed via finger vein biometrics

Staff at the Warren Manor care facility in Blackpool in the UK are piloting a digital passport that enables them to verify their Covid-19 vaccination, test or recovery status when they arrive at their workplace by scanning their finger.

The EN-Covid19 digital passport uses blockchain technology to register staff and store their health credentials securely in a digital wallet that holders of the passport can access quickly via a biometric vein recognition finger scanner.

Smartphone users can also opt to verify their identity and health status with the digital passport by scanning a QR code stored on their mobile device.

The solution has been developed by not-for-profit charity Enduring Net in collaboration with Finnish biometrics technology provider FinGo and blockchain developer Blockpool.

“There are two main differences that sets apart our solution from the others,” Enduring Net says.

“Firstly, we use a technology called Self Sovereign Identification, or SSI, to ensure all data is securely and decentrally stored and encrypted.

“This also uses a data framework called Zero Knowledge Proof, or ZKP, in order to protect the individuals’ data by only making available the necessary information needed to make a decision.

“The really elegant part is that no third party entity such as Google, Apple or Facebook is required for this system to work: it operates independently, making your personal information even safer from third party exploitation.

“Secondly, we use biometrics as well as smart phones to access the system. 

“As far as we know this is the first time that biometrics has been used in combination with SSI. Using vein ID we can register and identify an individual by the unique blood flow through their finger, which is 15 times more accurate than an eye retina scan.”

“As testing becomes more readily available to the care home sector, this system is basically able to confirm any visitors’, care workers’ or patients’ Covid19 test results at the point of access,” Enduring Net adds.

“The ultimate benefit here is that we can stop the spread of the disease as workers move around from facility to facility.”

A short video shows how the system works:

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