Android Users Will Be Able To Carry Vaccine Cards On Their Phones

Illustrated photo (Pathum Danthanarayana / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Google will make it easier for users to carry COVID-19 vaccine cards on their cellphones. The company says it is updating the built-in Passes API system on Android.

The system will function to provide health service providers and government agencies to create digital versions of COVID-19 tests. In addition, there is a COVID-19 vaccine card that can be saved directly to Android users' phones.

Citing Techcrunch, Saturday, July 3, the COVID-19 test card includes information, such as the name of the test, the result, the date it was received, and the name of the administering entity.

While the vaccine card includes information about the name of the vaccine, lot number and dose, date of receiving it, name of the giving entity, and details of future appointments.

The Passes API is typically used to store things like boarding passes, loyalty cards, greeting cards, tickets and more to a user's Google Pay wallet. However, the Google Pay application in this case will not be used.

Instead, users without the Google Pay app will have the option to save a digital version of the COVID-19 test card or vaccine card directly to their device, which can be accessed from a home screen shortcut.

Because Google doesn't store copies of the card, anyone who needs to store their card across multiple devices will have to download them individually on each device from a healthcare provider or another organization's app.

Using this feature is quite easy, the device must be running Android 5 or later version. Google says the card can be accessed even when users are offline or in areas with low internet signal.

Regarding data security, Google said all card information will be stored on the Android device itself. If users want to access their card on multiple devices, they have to save it on all of them manually.

Further, Google promises not to retain copies of the information and will not share it with any third party services for advertising targeting purposes. However, companies will know how users use their COVID-19 cards, and how often they access them.