Vaccination certificates raise questions of privacy and trust

NZCCL Deputy Chairperson Andrew Ecclestone has an opinion piece published in Stuff discussing the government’s lack of openness around the upcoming implementation of vaccination certificates.

Far more troubling is what the Minister for Open Government – also the Covid-19 Minister – isn’t telling us: what data it will capture each time our certificate is scanned. Supermarkets, doctors and pharmacies are excluded, but it hasn’t ruled out having certificates scanned to catch a bus or train, and the logic of requiring them when people are close to each other suggests doing this.

You might be in favour of that, but do you want that information retained by the state? None of the advice or assessments described above have been published by the government. The Government has provided no criteria for when we’ll stop having to carry them. The New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties has written to the Prime Minister seeking answers but has not received a reply.