Kia ora koutou, It's been some time since my musings in "Notes from the Asia-Pacific" have focused on the privacy implications of COVID-19. However, the landscape is changing, and the APAC region is now moving closer to a post-pandemic phase. We're seeing real progress in national vaccination progr...

The New York Times reports on how vaccine passports are being viewed in different parts of the world while also pulling the curtain back on some of the technologies that may help certify health statuses for travelers. The U.K. National Health Service's COVID-19 contact-tracing application is not ...

Concerns have been raised over the use of QR codes to check in to venues during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. In a letter to New South Wales Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello, NSW Council for Civil Liberties Secretary Michelle Falstein wrote the codes could...

Mexico’s Senate approved a biometric cellphone registry, Reuters reports. Under the reform to the Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law, telecommunications companies will be required to collect millions of cellphone users’ data, including fingerprints or eye scans, which will be stored in ...

European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders told members of the European Parliament that airlines could use COVID-19 travel certificates to facilitate safe travel this summer, Euractiv reports. Reynders said the certificates, which would not be considered vaccine passports, would contain inf...