The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has published new technical specifications for a Visible Digital Seal (VDS) which will deliver important benefits for secure and efficient COVID-19 testing and vaccination validation.
The ICAO VDS stores datasets for test and vaccination certificates in a two-dimensional barcode which can be paper or screen-based. Border control and other receiving parties can verify the data against established requirements efficiently and seamlessly, including through the use of self-service kiosks and processes.
The VDS barcode is digitally signed for security with the signature based on the same public key cryptographic infrastructure principles already used to support ePassport issuance and authentication by more than 145 countries globally.
“As States attempt to reopen borders for travellers, they are frequently requesting passengers to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination or testing as a prerequisite for entry,” commented Dr. Fang Liu, ICAO’s Secretary General.
“A lack of international standardisation to-date has meant that reading and validating these proofs is frequently challenging, and these new VDS specifications will help make the related processes and documents much more efficient and less vulnerable to fraud. The VDS solution also makes use of already-established infrastructure and procedures, meaning States can implement VDS barcodes quickly, and at minimal costs,” she continued.
The publication of the new VDS specifications follows the approval of Guidelines for the use of VDS for Travel-Related Health Proofs by ICAO’s Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART), in March 2021. To enhance awareness of the VDS solution and provide initial guidance for State-by-State implementation ICAO plans to deliver a series of webinars over the coming weeks.
