DFAT releases VDS app

A NEWLY launched smartphone app from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provides a simple way for anyone to verify Visible Digital Seal for NonConstrained Environments (VDSNC) digital health certificates, initially for COVID-19 vaccinations in Australia but with future applications for other countries.

Now available on the Apple iOS store, and expected to become shortly available on the Google Play store too, the VDS-NC Checker app developed by the Australian Passport Office complies with standards specified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

VDS-NC certificates are “like a passport chip in QR format, with the same high level of security against forgery,” the app description notes, and can be authenticated online or offline.

The certificates have been developed in conformity with World Health Organization guidance on digital secure vaccination documentation, and are compatible with digital wallets and COVID-19 travel apps such as the IATA TravelPass.

The new app will complement authentication facilities in normal passport readers, with DFAT noting that not all countries issue ePassports, or have had the opportunity to modify their readers to consume health data.

“Moreover, a need to authenticate VDS-NC certificates will not be limited to borders health departments and other entities will also wish to process them,” DFAT said.

If the QR code being checked is authentic, the app displays information from the certificate including the holder’s “biodata and COVID-19 immunisations”.

The app is part of new digital infrastructure being developed by the government for vaccine passports (TD 04 Aug).