November 24, 2021
Data expert finds flaw in vax passport
A Māori data sovereignty expert says the vaccine passport will create a new digital divide that discriminates against many elderly, Māori and rural people.
Karaitiana Taiuru says the Covid lockdowns have already exposed how many Māori and Pasifika whānau, don’t have access to the internet or digital devices.
He says people need drivers licenses or passports to sign up to the accounts needed to get the vaccine passports.
They also need unique email accounts, but data shows many low income Māori and Pasifika families will share email accounts and cellphones.
There is another sort of digital divide for kaumatua who may have spent their lives in labouring jobs.
“Most digital phones, they can’t operate them. Their fingers are too big. I see it all the time, They say to me, ‘boy, I can’t use this, my fingers are too big.’ I think there has been a real lack of consultation with Māori over vaccine passports,” Dr Taiuru says.
So far more than 1.1 million My Vaccine Passes have been created.
Today there were 215 new community cases in Auckland, Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and the Lakes District.