Media Alert
PathCheck Releases Free Covid QR Verifier App for the State of CA
New tool to fight fraudulent paper CDC cards in a privacy preserving way
MIT Professor Ramesh Raskar states that cryptography-signed QR codes are the best way to prevent fraudulent use of paper CDC vaccination cards.
CAMBRIDGE, MA – Jul 1, 2021 – PathCheck Foundation, a nonprofit spinout of MIT dedicated to providing open-source, privacy-preserving software to help with the fight against the Covid impact, announces the free availability of the PathCheck QR app to verify state-issued Covid QR codes.
Such states as CA and NY have allowed citizens who have been vaccinated to obtain a Verifiable QR code to digitally confirm they have been vaccinated. Universities, schools, businesses, retailers, restaurants, manufacturing plants, and other venues can now use the free PathCheck QR Check app to confirm that the presented QR code is legitimate. Organizations simply download the free app and scan the presented QR code. The app verifies the state’s signature and displays the information in it, e.g., name, date of vaccination. The verification process cryptographically guarantees that the presented QR code came from the correct issuing authority, e.g., CA, and has not been tampered with or modified.
The QR Check app was initially launched a few months ago to support the Indian QR code deployment. The app was extended to support the SmartHealth Cards specification used by California and the DIVOC specification from the Indian Ministry of Health along with PathCheck’s own PaperCreds specification. “The long-term goal is to support every single Verifiable Credential format in the world so that new products and services can be built by composing these individually signed certificates,” says Vitor Pamplona, PathCheck’s CTO. By using cryptographically signed credentials printed on paper, users can have the best of both worlds: a tamper-proof certificate stored in a decentralized, off-line, long-term medium away from the big servers; protected from hackers, ransom attacks, and data losses from computer crashes; and even having tracing capabilities from issuing governments and companies that can be easily secured by households.
“Safe school, retail and work environments require trust to ensure a healthy environment. Our Covid QR app ensures that people are not using fraudulent paper CDC vaccination cards in CA,” states Professor Ramesh Raskar of MIT and founder and chairman of PathCheck Foundation.
PathCheck developed this free mobile app to help support economic recovery from the Covid lockdown. The PathCheck Covid QR app is available in Apple and Google stores for immediate download and use in Apple App Store and Google App Store
The app will be highlighted at the Celebrate the Shot event on July 23 in Cambridge, MA.
Since the app is open-source software , developers and designers are invited to join the team and help us build a better system to privately transfer verifiable credentials around the world.
PathCheck is a nonprofit spinout of MIT dedicated to providing open-source software and education to help fight Covid.