
Big Tech failed with contact tracing. Can it do better with vaccine passport apps?
CNN
As some US cities start requiring proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, events and workplaces, smartphone makers such as Apple, Samsung and Google are rolling out ways to make it easy for users to show their Covid-19 vaccine status with just a tap.
It could be Big Tech's shot at making a dent with pandemic solution tools following its failed attempt last year at contact tracing apps, which used Bluetooth technology to alert people if they've been in close proximity with someone who tested positive for the virus. Those products were plagued by issues around measuring proximity while keeping data anonymous, notifications that failed to trigger and slow adoption rates among states. On paper, this latest effort should be much simpler, but the companies face a crowded app market and the potential for privacy concerns among some Americans.
Among the eight people Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced would make up his new group of outside vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are an emergency physician who posted Islamophobic commentary on social media and two doctors who were paid to provide expert testimony in trials against a vaccine maker.

There’s a video on Luka Krizanac’s phone phone that captures him making coffee at home on an espresso machine. It’s the type of video anyone might take to show off a new gadget to friends or recommend a favorite bag of beans. But the normalcy is exactly what makes it extraordinary for Krizanac – because just a few months ago, he didn’t have hands.