Although the extension of the health pass will allow new professionals to control you as of Monday, August 9, the question arises as to what information they will have access to.
By scanning the QR code it will show them, those authorized to verify the health pass have access to health information that some might consider confidential outside the context of a pandemic.
In fact, professionals use a special application available for this purpose on iOS and Android. Titled TousAntiCovid Verified, this mobile application is provided by the government to professionals (restaurateurs, merchants, managers of sports or cultural establishments, etc.). This is a software derived from TousAntiCovid, already downloaded by almost 28 million French people.
The government, which created TousAntiCovid Verified, ensures that the information is displayed “with a minimum level of detail.” Clearly, when a professional scans the QR code on your health pass, TousAntiCovid Verif will show if the pass is valid or invalid, it will show the client’s last name, first name and date of birth. No other health information is displayed on the screen. Also, the application does not store the data collected from customers throughout the day. Finally, the manager of an establishment that verifies health passes must record in writing “the names of the agents who carried out the examinations of the health tests”, so that the authorities can know who is in charge in case of a site inspection.
If, in fact, TousAntiCovid Verif only delivers essential information, the CNIL (National Commission for Information Technology and Freedom) warned against other health information that could be retrieved from the QR Code by malicious people. In fact, some might try “to access all the personal data embedded in the QR codes present in the supporting documents, including health data,” the CNIL warned in early June.
Finally, there is the question of fake documents that could show stolen and illegal QR codes. A question posed and difficult to verify. But, according to the General Directorate of Health: “if a QR Code has been identified as corrupt by an authority, we can place it on a black list by means of the certificate identifier in TousAntiCovid Verif so that it is rejected. Read”. DGS, who told AFP that they are working with the Interior Ministry on this issue.