Dynamic Identification

By:  Sean C. O’Rourke, Cyber Liability Consultant, Combs & Company, LLC

How often do you think about the information contained on a state-issued identification document (such as a driver’s license)?  How about your passport, which is internationally recognized?  The data on your credit card’s magnetic strip?  Pretty sure most people would answer never or infrequently to any or all of these questions, which is why there are folks like James (Jim) Mottola.

Jim spent 26 years at the Secret Service, thinking a lot about identification documents and the information contained – and not contained – on them.  To law enforcement, identification is a vital part of the job.  But with COVID-19, questions about identification data have taken on new forms and urgencies, beyond law enforcement and the ability to get on an airplane or drive a car.  A great many of those questions revolve around health ID’s; documents that could confirm a person has the COVID-19 antibodies, or never tested positive for the virus, or received the proper immunizations before traveling to other parts of the world.

Would a health ID work, especially here in the United States?  If so, how would it work and most importantly, how would you protect the data?  “Dynamic Identification” is a conversation I recorded with Jim to discuss these questions and others.  It’s a topic that touches on every citizen and business.  If interested, just click on the video below.