Public-private partnership launches biometrics identity and vaccination record system in West Africa

In July 2020 a public-private partnership programme between the Bill Gates-backed GAVI vaccine alliance, Mastercard, and the AI identity authentication company Trust Stamp was ready to introduce a biometric identity platform in low-income remote communities in West Africa. The programme will integrate Trust Stamp’s digital identity platform into the GAVI-Mastercards “Wellness Pass”, a digital vaccination record and identity system powered by Mastercard’s AI and machine learning technology, NuData. Critics are concerned that the programme is more aimed at promoting the health of markets for vaccines and Mastercard’s “World Beyond Cash” programme rather than the health of individuals, and that it provides an excuse to expand the use of biometrics in national ID registration systems, and note that Trust Stamp is offering the same technology to COVID-19 response that it offers to law enforcement and prison systems for the purposes of surveillance and predictive policing.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/africa-trust-stamp-covid-19-vaccine-record-payment-system/269346/
Writer: Raul Diego
Publication: Mint Press News