Summary

Supplement 40 to Recommendation ITU-T X.1152 provides use cases for digital corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) certificates. It specifies digital COVID-19 certificates (DCCs) based on public key infrastructure (PKI) and those based on decentralized identity (DID). Supplement 40 to Recommendation ITU-T X.1152 also describes a common data format for DCCs and scenarios for establishing trust network supporting DCCs.

A DCC proves that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, tested for the virus or has recovered from COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic requires DCCs including details of vaccination that can be used in an interoperable fashion across organizations.

In 2021, the World Health Organization published Digital documentation of COVID-19 certificates: Vaccination status: Technical specifications and implementation guidance, which specifies PKI governing the issuance of digital certificates to: protect sensitive data; provide unique digital identities for users (holders), devices and applications; and secure end-to-end communications.

DCCs can be designed using such technologies as quick-response code, PKI and DID. DID is an emerging technology that gives back control of identity to users (verifiable credential holder) using an identity wallet in which they collect verified information about themselves from certified issuers.