The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it welcomed the creation by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of a global directory of public keys required for authentication of health credentials.
The world body said the directory—called the Health Master List (HML) would make a significant contribution to the global recognition and verification (interoperability) of government issued health credentials.
It noted that a public key enables third parties to verify that a QR code displayed on a health credential is authentic and valid. The HLM is a compilation of public key certificates signed by ICAO and regularly updated as more health proofs are issued and new public keys are required. Its implementation will ease the global recognition of health credentials outside of the jurisdiction in which they were issued.
“For international travel today, it is critical that COVID-19 health passes can be efficiently verified outside of their country of issuance. While the keys for verification are available individually, the creation of a directory will significantly cut complexity, simplify operations and improve trust in the verification process. We encourage all states to submit their public health keys to the HLM,” said IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh.
The sharing of public keys used to perform this verification does not involve any exchange of or access to personal information.
