What place should COVID-19 vaccine passports have in society?

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Rapid expert deliberation
                                 17 February 2021

What place should COVID-19
vaccine passports have in society?
Findings from a rapid deliberation with multidisciplinary experts
to consider the risks and benefits of the potential roll-out of digital
vaccine certification schemes.

                                                                   The views put forward below in these deliberation
Introduction                                                       findings reflect a snapshot of our understanding
                                                                   of the evidence and the development
In recent weeks, vaccine passports                                 of technical tools. The urgency of the issue
or COVID-19 status apps – which might give                         meant – by necessity – this was a limited
some individuals greater access to travel,                         exercise. Nevertheless, some clear areas
employment or entertainment – have attracted                       of concern emerged.
attention as a route to move societies out
of lockdown and open up parts of the economy.                      •    The expert group came to the view that,
                                                                        at present, vaccination status does not offer
With momentum building, the Ada Lovelace                                clear or conclusive evidence about any
Institute convened an urgent expert deliberation                        individual’s risk to others via transmission.
to consider how governments should act, chaired                         Without that, it cannot be a robust basis for
by Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery. A group                           risk-based decision making, and therefore
of 17 experts from the fields of immunology,                            any roll out of a digital passport is not
epidemiology, sociology, international                                  currently justified.
development, behavioural science, law, medical                     •    However, given that evidence
history, public health, ethics, digital identity and                    on transmission will emerge, and other
technical system design came together across                            countries and companies are developing
two weeks to discuss the evidence, deliberate                           such systems, the UK Government must act
on use cases, explore opportunities and risks,                          urgently to address the public policy issues
and identify areas of consensus to support                              that arise, and create clear and specific
government decision makers around the world.1                           guidelines and law around any appropriate
                                                                        uses, mechanisms for enforcement and
                                                                        methods of legal redress.

1    The deliberation forms part of a wider project, which also consists of an international call for evidence and a series
     of public events. The Ada Lovelace Institute will publish a longer report in March taking all of the evidence into
     consideration, and answering some of the questions raised by the expert deliberation.
Ada Lovelace Institute                                COVID-19 vaccine passports and society              2

  •   While vaccine passports will be seen            There are broad social benefits that flow from
      by some as a way to increase freedom,           loosening restrictions on social distancing and
      for those without a passport they would         many hope that passports might help do this
      constitute a denial of liberties that           safely. In particular, arguments are made for:
      others are being granted. Therefore
      the justifications both for the relaxation      •   Public health – making the community
      of current restrictions for some and also           safer. The effectiveness of this approach
      for their continuation for others should            is based on the premise that only those who
      be clearly articulated.                             will not transmit the virus are able to take
  •   The Government will need to take                    part in activities that would normally present
      a clear position outlining the specific             a risk of transmission. But this aim is not
      purposes and use cases for which, if any,           scientifically advisable at present, as it has
      vaccine passports can be legally and                not been established that vaccination status
      legitimately used.                                  reduces the risk of transmission to others
  •   In allowing some uses or actively                   (as opposed to the risk of the vaccinated
      facilitating digital vaccine passports,             person contracting COVID-19).
      governments must address the issues and         •   Personal liberty – enhancing the freedoms
      risks arising from such schemes or the              of those who have a passport to do things
      creation of related digital infrastructure,         that would otherwise be restricted due
      and whether and how these risks could               to COVID-19 (always noting that granting
      be mitigated.                                       permissions for some will, in relative terms,
                                                          increase the loss of liberty experienced
  A vaccine passport as defined here consists             by others). This could have a particularly
  of three things: health information (vaccine            profound benefit for those facing extreme
  status through e.g. a certificate), verification        harm and isolation due to the virus, for
  of identity (connecting the holder to that              example those in care homes unable to see
  certificate) and authorisation for the purpose          relatives.
  of allowing or blocking actions (a pass).           •   Economic benefits – supporting industries
                                                          (and the wider economy) struggling
  Most passport models currently focus                    in lockdown by enabling phased opening,
  on displaying a vaccination status (rather than         for example in entertainment, leisure and
  a more granular or ‘live’ assessment of risk,           hospitality.
  which might incorporate other information)
  so this was the primary focus of our discussions.   Technology companies across the world are
  However, many of the points below also relate       developing tools and standards in expectation
  to other passport models, including those           that vaccine passports and COVID-19 status
  based on negative COVID-19 antigen tests and        apps could become instrumental to a move
  tests showing antibodies after infection.           from national lockdowns to a more open and
                                                      mobile society.
  There are intuitive attractions to the idea of a
  vaccine passport in relation to the hope that       IBM has launched Digital Health Pass,
                                                                                       Pass
  a better balance could be found between             integrated with Salesforce’s employee
  economic activity and community safety,             management platform Work.com
                                                                              Work.com.
  by allowing a more fine-grained and targeted        CommonPass, supported by the World
                                                      CommonPass
  set of restrictions than sweeping measures          Economic Forum, and the International Air
  or national lockdowns.                              Transport Association (IATA)’s Travel Pass are
                                                      both being trialled by airlines.
Ada Lovelace Institute                              COVID-19 vaccine passports and society              3

  The Linux Foundation Public Health’s               In the UK, the Government has yet to take
  COVID-19 Credentials Initiative and the            a clear position on whether to introduce
  Vaccination Credential Initiative,
                           Initiative which          vaccine passports, domestically or for
  includes Microsoft and Oracle, are pushing for     international travel. The Government has
  open interoperable standards. A marketplace        said there aren’t current plans to introduce
  of smaller
     smaller, private actors has also emerged        vaccine passports but some ministers have
  offering bespoke solutions and infrastructures.    left the door open to digital passporting
                                                     schemes when circumstances change. The
  Since the start of the pandemic, a number          Government appears to be keeping its options
  of countries have demonstrated interest            open by funding a number of startups piloting
  in some form of ‘immunity passport’ based          similar technology and reportedly instructing
  on natural immunity and antibodies after           officials to draw up draft options for vaccine
  infection with COVID-19 (including Germany         certificates for international travel.
  and the UK,
          UK and a pilot in Estonia
                            Estonia), but a lack
  of evidence about the protection acquired          Given its comparatively high vaccination rate
  through natural immunity meant few schemes         – and high infection rate – the UK may be one
  were used in real world scenarios.                 of the first countries to have vaccinated
                                                     a sizeable proportion of the country (currently
  The World Health Organisation (WHO) put            a fifth of their population has received at least
  out a clear statement saying there was ‘not        one dose) while remaining in national lockdown
  enough evidence about the effectiveness            with schools closed, many workers furloughed,
  of antibody-mediated immunity to guarantee         and international and most domestic travel
  the accuracy of an “immunity passport”             banned. How the UK manages the challenge
  or “risk-free certificate”,’ and that ‘the use     of a transition out of lockdown is therefore
  of such certificates may therefore increase the    likely to be of international interest.
  risks of continued transmission’.

  The approval and roll out of effective vaccines
  have re-energised the idea of restoring
  personal freedoms and societal mobility
  based on certification of COVID vaccination.
  A number of countries have made explicit calls
  for the development of such a tool. The WHO
  has shifted their stance by announcing plans
  to develop a digitally enhanced International
  Certificate of Vaccination and established
  the Smart Vaccination Certificate consortium
  with Estonia.
Ada Lovelace Institute                                 COVID-19 vaccine passports and society             4

  Deliberation findings
  1. Governments must act urgently                      At present, vaccination status does not
     to create clear and specific guidelines            offer clear or conclusive evidence about any
     and law around any uses, mechanisms                individual’s risk to others via transmission.
     for enforcement and methods of legal               Vaccination status can never offer absolutely
     redress of vaccine passports.                      conclusive evidence of an individual’s risk
                                                        to others (or their own risk), since no vaccine
  The evidence around transmission will                 will be 100% effective for 100% of recipients.
  develop, and that information must continue
  to inform future decision making. It seems            3. Passport systems would need
  likely that national requirements put in place           to be flexible if they are to address
  by some countries will trigger the need for              the development of mutations, such
  internationally accepted certification, and              as the E484K mutation,
                                                                           mutation found in South
  many systems are in development. While                   African, Brazilian and now UK variants
  some experts felt any form of digital vaccine            of COVID-19, which is thought likely
  passport could not be justified due to the               to reduce the efficacy of vaccines.
  risks they pose (below), the expectation from
  the group is that some form of vaccination            These variations make it unlikely that
  certification will emerge, and therefore that         a single COVID-19 vaccination ‘status’ would
  general prohibition is neither desirable nor          be relevant to all countries or be of a standard
  achievable. Letting practice emerge via               and fixed duration.
  private users and private markets will heighten
  a number of the risks outlined below.                 These mutations make understanding
                                                        of vaccination effects on individual
  2. Digital passports should not be rolled             transmission a moving target, as vaccines
     out while so much is unknown about                 must be assessed against a changing
     COVID-19, particularly the effect                  background of dominant strains within the
     of different vaccines (and vaccination             population. While booster vaccinations against
     regimes) on transmission, the duration             variants may manage the issue of strains
     of protection and the generalisability             this will raise questions about the degree
     of those effects.                                  of vaccination sufficient for passports and
                                                        the duration of validity of the passport will
  The primary justification for sharing personal        remain dynamic in response to developing
  information with a third party that would affect      scientific understanding rather than a fixed
  rights and freedoms at an individual level            date of issue.
  is that it would allow that third party to protect
  themselves from serious harm. In other words,
  the vaccine passport is premised on the
  assumption that my vaccine status tells you
  something about the risk I pose to you, not
  simply the risk I face from COVID-19.
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  4. Governments should identify specific            5. If the Government allows or actively
     priority use cases for detailed                    facilitates the use of digital vaccine
     consideration of whether they justify              passports, they must address the
     selective rights and freedoms based                issues and risks arising from such
     on vaccination status, and if so, the best         schemes or the creation of related digital
     mechanisms for those schemes.                      infrastructure, and whether and how
                                                        these risks could be mitigated.
  Particularly urgent use cases to consider
  are international travel, key frontline workers    Some of these issues and risks are near-term
  (especially in health and care, and education),    concerns. Others are longer-term issues about
  and access to employment generally.                how such systems might become embedded
  Secondary use cases include access                 and reshape society beyond the pandemic.
  to hospitality or leisure venues. Governments
  should actively shape their society’s choices      Immediate risks
  around these use cases.
                                                     1. Undermining public health by treating
  At least some of these may be satisfactorily          a collective problem as an individual one
  addressed by updating existing mechanisms,
  rather than building a new system of passports     Digital vaccine passports could potentially
  and digital identity. For example, there are       undermine other public health interventions
  already mechanisms in place to ensure that         and suggest a binary certainty (passport
  individuals are properly protected at work.        holders are safe; those without are risky) that
  One of the most prominent examples in health       does not adequately reflect a more nuanced
  settings is the Green Book on immunisation
                                   immunisation,     and collective understanding of risk posed and
  which covers requirements for vaccination          faced during the pandemic.
  in high-risk environments. Further, existing
  safeguarding and ‘fit and proper person’           It may be counterproductive or harmful
  requirements allow employers to require            to encourage risk scoring at an individual level
  employees to demonstrate that they can             when risk is more contextual and collective
  be safely employed. In a non-health context        – it will be national and international herd
  this might include confirming that they have       immunity that will offer ultimate protection.
  not been convicted of relevant offences            Passporting might foster a false sense
  through the issue of a Disclosure and Barring      of security in either the passported person
  Service (DBS) certificate;
                  certificate if deemed legally      or others, and increase rather than decrease
  permissible, a similar service could provide       risky behaviours.
  one-off checks for vaccination status.
Ada Lovelace Institute                             COVID-19 vaccine passports and society             6

  2. The opportunity cost of focusing               4. Exacerbating inequalities within societies
     on vaccine passports
                                                    Existing distrust of the state, identity
  There will be opportunity costs to focusing       infrastructure and vaccines are also
  on vaccine passports rather than other            expected to put some groups at a particular
  interventions. There may be a comparatively       disadvantage. Access to digital technology,
  narrow window where there is scientific           forms of identification, tests and vaccines
  confidence about the impact of vaccines           is already unequal, and vaccine passports may
  on transmission and enough of a vaccinated        unintentionally mirror and reinforce existing
  population that it is worth segregating rights    inequalities without wider programmes for
  and freedoms. Once there is population-           addressing health inequalities.
  level herd immunity it will not make sense
  to differentiate and passports would              5.    Increasing inequalities between nations
  be unnecessary.
                                                    International cooperation will be necessary,
  Passports may be a tempting distraction.          particularly for schemes enabling international
  They bring political, financial and human         travel. But scientific concerns could quickly
  capital costs that must be weighed against        become geopolitical ones, with countries
  their benefits. They might crowd out more         using recognition of (and access to) vaccines
  important policies to reopen society more         as a form of political power and influence.
  quickly for everyone, such as by vaccine          There is pressure on governments to acquire
  rollout and test, trace and isolate schemes,      vaccine supplies, which in turn triggers
  and other public health measures.                 a form of ‘vaccine nationalism’ – where
                                                    richer countries are able to buy up supplies
  3. Exacerbating distrust by marginalised          of vaccines where poorer ones can’t.
     groups and increasing vaccine hesitancy
                                                    Tying movement to vaccine certification could
  It has been argued that one of the benefits       supercharge protectionism and entrench
  of vaccine passports is to encourage              existing global inequalities. International
  uptake of COVID-19 vaccines. In the UK,           friction is unhelpful when vaccination is,
  which has already seen over 90% uptake            ultimately, a global public good. Any individual
  of first doses in the over 75s and elderly        country’s fate is tied to reaching international
  care home residents and where nearly              herd immunity as we are seeing with emergent
  90% of unvaccinated adults say they would         new strains.
  be vaccinated if available, it is not clear
  there is much additional benefit to be gained
  by further incentivising vaccination.

  However, there is a downside risk that
  it could reduce trust and increase vaccine
  hesitancy if the scheme is seen as introducing
  mandatory vaccination by the back door.
  This may be particularly acute amongst
  marginalised groups who may already have
  greater levels of mistrust, such as Black and
  Asian communities, who are already seeing
  lower rates of vaccine uptake.
Ada Lovelace Institute                                COVID-19 vaccine passports and society            7

  Future risks
                                                       7.    Scope creep and information flows
  6. Normalising health status surveillance
     by creating long-term infrastructure              There were particular concerns in the expert
     in response to a time-bounded crisis              group that digital identity systems could
                                                       be introduced as part of an emergency
  It is likely that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that         infrastructure, but used for different
  causes COVID-19) will become endemic, like           or expanded purposes. The wider merits
  seasonal flu and other infectious disease-           of digital identity systems (for example) must
  causing pathogens (or even better contained,         be disaggregated from the immediate health
  like measles, or even eliminated), at which          context and considered in their own right.
  point it will no longer require the emergency
  and intrusive measures justified by its present      Concerns were raised about how information
  transmissibility and fatality. Accepting this        might be used more broadly than was
  as a reasonable scientific expectation for           intended. Information might flow to third
  the near future, raises concerns about the           parties, and personal data may be repurposed.
  longevity of emergency apparatus, and that           Even with the most privacy-preserving
  such infrastructure – once built – will not          technology, the expectation is that health
  be stripped back.                                    data will be viewed by different actors, from
                                                       healthcare settings, employers, clients, police
  Reference was made by the expert group               and pubs to insurance companies, who
  to post-9/11 security infrastructure at airports,    may have different levels of experience and
  and the once-limited but now essentially             trustworthiness in handling personal data.
  mandatory Aadhaar identity system
  in India. There was pessimism about the
  likelihood of vaccine-passport technologies
  being ‘switched off’ once the crisis has
  passed. Building these roads could lead
  to path dependency: once an infrastructure
  exists, it will make certain future choices
  more favourable and block others. ‘Once
  a road is built, good luck not using it,’ as one
  participant put it. This might be a particular
  issue if the status of other health conditions
  were to be added.

  The current uncertainty, ongoing social
  anxiety and economic cost of the pandemic
  makes the technical fix of a novel tool and
  emergency infrastructure seem attractive, but
  the starting point should be identifying specific
  problems and looking at whether and how
  these could be addressed through existing
  practices and laws.
Ada Lovelace Institute                                COVID-19 vaccine passports and society             8

  Next steps
  Drawing on this expert deliberation, the             They should evaluate the adaptation
  Ada Lovelace Institute has laid out some             of existing mechanisms as well as a new
  recommendations for the UK Government.               system of passports and digital identity.
  This will necessitate engaging                       Urgent domestic use cases are likely
  in wider conversations with other national           to include the deployment of frontline workers
  governments, and we anticipate that many             (particularly in health and care, and education)
  of these recommendations will be applicable          and access to employment in general.
  in other national contexts.
                                                       3. Offer urgent clarification on the current
  1. Set scientific pre-conditions                        legal status of the development and use
                                                          of vaccine passports, in particular with
  To move forward, governments should have                regard to data protection, equality and
  a better understanding of vaccine efficacy and          discrimination, health and safety and
  transmission, durability and generalisability,          employment law
  and evidence that use of vaccine passports
  would lead to:                                       Developers of vaccine passports should
                                                       not be in the position of also developing
      a. Reduced transmission risk                     the rules for where these systems should
         by vaccinated people – this is likely         be implemented, nor are they taking
         to involve issues of risk appetite, as the    responsibility for enforcing local law.
         risk of transmission may be reduced
         but will probably not be nil                  Currently, developers are operating under
      b. Low ‘side effects’ – that passporting         the assumption that governments will provide
         won’t foster a false sense of security        protections against unlawful or unethical use,
         in either the passported person               and will enforce such restrictions. This does
         or others, which might lead                   not reflect reality. Governments must develop
         to an increase of risky behaviours            clear guidelines, which will take time to do
         (not following required public health         effectively.
         measures), with a net harmful effect.
                                                       4. Consult a wide group of experts and
  2. Identify the urgent use cases so that             perspectives
     the benefits and risks can be assessed
     if these pre-conditions are met                   As well as the experts from health, social
                                                       sciences, law, ethics, technology and other
  Governments should consider a cost/                  disciplines involved in our deliberation,
  benefit analysis of each specific use case.          Government will need to understand the
  This includes assessing the likely impact            perspectives of those involved in the
  on transmission risk, economic activity              practical implementation of any use case,
  and social inequality if selective rights            e.g. employers and industry bodies, unions,
  and freedoms were to be based                        public health experts and system leaders,
  on vaccination status.                               those working on vaccination programmes,
                                                       software developers, groups working on open
                                                       standards, local elected officials etc.
Ada Lovelace Institute                                         COVID-19 vaccine passports and society               9

  This understanding is a necessary condition                    6. Work through the World Health
  for both policy development and effective                         Organisation on international
  public engagement.                                                travel use cases

  5. Engage publics on any potential uses                        A key use case of vaccine passports is for
     to understand impacts, build trust and                      international travel. The UK has already played
     legitimacy, and understand what trade-                      an important role in championing global
     offs the public is willing to make                          vaccinations through early and significant
                                                                 contributions to GAVI and COVAX. It should
  The issues raised by vaccine passports should                  continue to seek international agreement
  be subject to proper public deliberation,                      on international travel passports, engaging
  engagement, co-production and evaluation                       with the World Health Organisation, who
  that goes beyond superficial opinion polling.                  are already coordinating efforts and will
  The deliberation should focus on issues                        have greater access to scientific evidence
  broader than passports, such as the public                     on developments globally.
  health response to COVID-19 in general
  and how people think vaccination data                          International standards will be vital for
  should be used.                                                interoperability. Different countries leading
                                                                 different discussions outside the WHO’s
  This could be done in partnership with civil                   efforts will only heighten the difficulties
  society groups with relevant expertise. It will                of international coordination and frustrate
  be essential to engage with those groups who                   attempts to define standards. The UK should
  are likely to face disadvantage, discrimination                champion the WHO as the more appropriate
  or unique/particular risks through the roll                    and legitimate venue to make decisions about
  out of such technologies, including but not                    international travel passports and have expert
  limited to:                                                    input to wrestle with the scientific evidence
                                                                 (particularly on risk around mutations), and
      a. Those in insecure work or currently                     take a global view.
         unemployed
      b. Those with insecure or invalid                          7. Identify and mitigate risks through
         citizenship status                                         policy measures, technical design
      c. Those unable or unwilling to have                          and governance infrastructure prior
         the vaccine                                                to proceeding with schemes
      d. Those who face historic or continuing
         over-surveillance.2                                     This will include careful consideration of the
                                                                 practicalities and security of any scheme
                                                                 and resources required – considering where
                                                                 responsibility and accountability for collecting,
                                                                 managing, securing and sharing data resides,
                                                                 and to what extent data minimisation
                                                                 is possible.

  2     See current Ada Lovelace Institute project with the Health Foundation on public engagement about
        COVID-19 technologies and health inequalities
Ada Lovelace Institute                            COVID-19 vaccine passports and society   10

  Consider the costs and benefits of paper-
  based versus digital solutions, and novel
  infrastructure against existing structures
  that might be developed through existing
  health and safety procedures in high-risk
  occupations (see Chapter 12 of the Green
  Book); such as a one-off consultation akin
  to the DBS or Electronic System for Travel
  Authorisation.

  Explore policy measures at a domestic and
  global scale that could adequately counteract
  and mitigate the risks and issues outlined
  above, for example: employment benefits
  for those unable to work; international
  requirements about vaccine coverage;
  defining clear and limited purposes of any
  vaccine passport with strong legal protection
  for data subjects; and socio-technical design
  principles.
Ada Lovelace Institute                               COVID-19 vaccine passports and society             11

  About this report
                                                      •   Sanjoy Bhattacharya is Professor
  This report is an interim summary of the                in the History of Medicine, Director
  findings and recommendations from the Ada               of the Centre for Global Health Histories
  Lovelace Institute expert deliberation, chaired         and Director of the WHO Collaborating
  by Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery.                   Centre for Global Health Histories at the
  A fuller report of the deliberation session will        University of York.
  be available next month.                            •   Sarah Chan is a Chancellor’s Fellow
                                                          and Reader in Bioethics at the Usher
  We are indebted to the contributions of the             Institute, University of Edinburgh. She
  experts who participated in this deliberation.          is also Deputy Director of the Mason
  This report highlights conclusions from that            Institute for Medicine, Life Sciences and
  collective conversation, acknowledging that             Law, Associate Director of the Centre
  the group did not always arrive at a consensus,         for Biomedicine, Self and Society and
  and the document reflects a majority view.              a member of the Genomics England Ethics
  Individual findings have not been, and should           Advisory Committee.
  not be, attributed to any specific individual.      •   Tracey Chantler is Assistant Professor
                                                          of Public Health Evaluation & Medical
  Members of the expert group included:                   Anthropology at the London School
                                                          of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She
  •   Jonathan Montgomery (chair) is Professor            is also a member of the Immunisation
      of Health Care Law at University College            Health Protection Research Unit,
      London and Chair of Oxford University               a collaborative research group involving
      Hospitals NHSFT. He was previously Chair            Public Health England and LSHTM.
      of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and        •   Robert Dingwall is Professor of Sociology
      Chair of the Health Research Authority.             at Nottingham Trent University. He is
  •   Danny Altmann is Professor                          also a Fellow of the Academy of Social
      of Immunology at Imperial College London,           Sciences and a member of the Faculty
      where he heads a lab at the Hammersmith             of Public Health. He sits on several
      Hospital Campus. He was previously                  government advisory committees,
      Editor-in-Chief of the British Society for          including NERVTAG (New and Emerging
      Immunology’s ‘Immunology’ journal and               Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory
      is an Associate Editor at ‘Vaccine’ and             Group) and the JCVI (Joint Committee
      at ‘Frontiers in Immunology.’                       on Vaccination and Immunisation) sub-
  •   Dave Archard is Emeritus Professor                  committee on Covid-19.
      of Philosophy at Queen’s University Belfast.    •   Amy Fairchild is Dean and Professor
      He is also Chair of the Nuffield Council            at the College of Public Health, Ohio State
      on Bioethics, a member of the Clinical              University. She is also Co-Director of the
      Ethics Committee at Great Ormond Street             World Health Organization Collaborating
      Hospital and Honorary Vice-President                Center for Bioethics at Columbia’s Center
      of the Society for Applied Philosophy               for the History and Ethics of Public Health.
  •   Ana Beduschi is an Associate Professor          •   Matteo Galizzi is Associate Professor
      of Law at Exeter University. She currently          of Behavioural Science at the London
      leads the UKRI ESRC-funded project                  School of Economics. He is also Co-
      on COVID-19: Human Rights Implications              Director of LSE Behavioural Lab and
      of Digital Certificates for Health Status           coordinates the Behavioural Experiments
      Verification.                                       in Health Network and the Data Linking
                                                          Initiative in Behavioural Science.
Ada Lovelace Institute                              COVID-19 vaccine passports and society                 12

                                                     About the Ada Lovelace Institute
  •   Michael Parker is Director of the Wellcome
      Centre for Ethics and Humanities and           The Ada Lovelace Institute was established
      Director of the Ethox Centre at the            by the Nuffield Foundation in early 2018,
      University of Oxford. He is also a member      in collaboration with the Alan Turing Institute,
      of the government’s Scientific Advisory        the Royal Society, the British Academy, the
      Group for Emergencies, the Chair of the        Royal Statistical Society, the Wellcome Trust,
      Genomics England Ethics Advisory               Luminate, techUK and the Nuffield Council
      Committee and a non-executive director         on Bioethics.
      of Genomics England.
  •   Sobia Raza is a Senior Fellow at the Health    The mission of the Ada Lovelace Institute
      Foundation within the Data Analytics team.     is to ensure that data and AI work for people
      She is also an Associate and previous          and society. We believe that a world where
      Head of Science at the PHG Foundation.         data and AI work for people and society is a
  •   Peter Taylor is Director of Research           world in which the opportunities, benefits and
      at the Institute of Development Studies.       privileges generated by data and AI are justly
      He was previously the Director of Strategic    and equitably distributed and experienced.
      Development at the International
      Development Research Centre.                   We recognise the power asymmetries that
  •   Carmela Troncoso is Assistant Professor,       exist in ethical and legal debates around the
      Security and Privacy Engineering Lab           development of data-driven technologies, and
      at the École Polytechnique Fédérale            will represent people in those conversations.
      de Lausanne. She was a leading                 We focus not on the types of technologies
      researcher on DP-3T and is also a member       we want to build, but on the types of societies
      of the Swiss National COVID-19 Science         we want to build.
      Task Force’s expert group on Digital
      Epidemiology.                                  Through research, policy and practice,
  •   Edgar Whitley is Associate Professor           we aim to ensure that the transformative
      of Information Systems at the London           power of data and AI is used and harnessed
      School of Economics. He is co-chair            in ways that maximise social wellbeing and put
      of the UK Cabinet Office Privacy and           technology at the service of humanity.
      Consumer Advisory Group and was the
      research coordinator of the LSE Identity       We are funded by the Nuffield Foundation,
      Project on the UK’s proposals to introduce     an independent charitable trust with a mission
      biometric identity cards.                      to advance social well-being. The Foundation
  •   James Wilson is Professor of Philosophy        funds research that informs social policy,
      and Co-Director of the Health Humanities       primarily in education, welfare and justice.
      Centre at University College London. He is     It also provides opportunities for young
      also an Associate editor of Public Health      people to develop skills and confidence
      Ethics and Member of the National Data         in STEM and research. In addition to the Ada
      Guardian’s Panel and Steering Group.           Lovelace Institute, the Foundation is also the
                                                     founder and co-funder of the Nuffield Council
                                                     on Bioethics and the Nuffield Family Justice
                                                     Observatory.

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  Part of the Nuffield Foundation
  Registered charity 206601                           ISBN: 978-1-8382567-1-5
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