Government plans for ‘Freedom Passport’ app cause alarm

Monday, 23 Dec, 2020 0

The company behind an NHS-assured app to show the user has received the Covid vaccine says the Government is wrong to consider launching an app to show that the user is Covid-free.

Hillary Cannon, Director of Innovation at myGP, said proposals for a ‘Freedom Passport’ could cause more harm than good.

According to a report on the Mail Online website, the Government has commissioned two companies to develop apps that would allow users to develop a QR code to their mobile phones to show they have tested negative for Covid-19.

The codes could be presented to allow them to enter pubs, places of work and other venues, it said.

But Hillary said the approach was ‘short-sighted and potentially high-risk’.

"The fact that a negative virus test result only means the person is at low risk of having COVID-19 at that moment means this new app innovation could encourage more people who may have, or could easily contract, the virus to move about and mix, which will impede the UK’s ability to contain and control the virus," said Hillary.

"The suggested Freedom Passport innovation also encourages more virus testing, which comes at a cost to the NHS and the taxpayer. In addition, it will further discourage the 31% of people who are already considering declining the Covid-19 vaccine, which goes against the NHS’s attempts to get the virus under control.

Linsey McNeill

Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk

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