Blockchain-Based Immunity Passports Don’t Resolve Core Privacy Issues: Report

The idea of global vaccination and health data being stored in centralized systems has more than privacy experts freaking out. As the first vaccines against COVID-19 roll out, governments and institutions across the world are scrambling to figure out how to provide proof that someone has been vaccinated. Paper certificates, PDFs, wristbands and mobile apps have all been suggested — and the former director of the Centers for Disease Control, Tom Frieden, and international human rights attorney Aaron Schwid urged the adoption of digital “immunity passports” as a way to reopen the world.In....

Photo by J. Stephen Conn. A number of countries offer investment-based citizenship, which offers nonresidents the chance to acquire citizenship in return for injecting money into the local economy. Now, under a new economic program sponsored by the local government, people can use Bitcoin to apply and pay for citizenship in a popular Caribean nation popular among tourists. Passports for Bitcoin. St. Kitts and Nevis was one the first nations to create a citizenship by investment programs, launching it in 1984. Now, the small island country is at the forefront of the next innovative....

Rich crypto investors are purchasing passports in tax havens for less than $200,000. A Russian expatriate and former professional sailboat racer, Katie Ananina, Plan B Passport — a firm that brokers citizenship through investment schemes for tax-haven nations that don’t impose capital gains on crypto holdings to wealthy investors.According to a July 11 report from CNBC, Plan B brokers hundreds of passports for predominantly western clients each year. Customers select from one of seven jurisdictions: Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Vanuatu, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and....

Blockchain technology is being used to cement confidence in the integrity of new health surveillance measures such as COVID-19 vaccine passports. South Korea, which has begun its COVID-19 vaccine rollout for residents over 75 years of age, has revealed plans to use blockchain technology to certify forthcoming vaccine passports for immunized citizens. According to Reuters, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a government meeting that a new mobile app will be used to manage digital proofs of vaccination, and is expected to launch later in April. Blockchain technology will be used to ensure....

How private is your bitcoin wallet? The Open Bitcoin Privacy Project (OBPP), a global, not-for-profit organization devoted to improving financial privacy in the bitcoin ecosystem, attempts to offer some guidance with its Bitcoin Privacy Rating Report. OBPP has released its second edition of the report, scoring 20 wallets on their privacy features. The top ranking in this report goes to Ledger, which earned a score of 50 out of 100 possible points, based on usability, quality and feedback. OBPP’s goal is to make financial privacy visible so that users can make informed choices about privacy....