Vaccination passports seem like a simple and relatively painless way to tackle travel challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and to help control the travel-related spread of the virus.

But today in The Conversation Canada, Tommy Cooke of Queen's University and Benjamin Muller of Western University urge us to slow down. They look back at the emergence of biometric technologies like facial recognition and retina scans, and predict that vaccine passports could also become permanent parts of our daily lives and be used for much more than their originally intended purpose.

They're calling for public debate on the privacy, surveillance and inequity issues raised by vaccination passports: "Safe and efficient travel is the coveted prize. However, failure to have fulsome public conversations about the long-term societal impact of vaccine passports will leave our privacy and civil liberties exposed."

Also today:

Regards,

Lee-Anne Goodman

Politics, Business + Economics Editor

Vaccine passports may soon be required for travelling amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Like biometrics, they’ll likely become a permanent part of our daily lives — and there’s barely been any debate about them. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Why we need to seriously reconsider COVID-19 vaccination passports

Tommy Cooke, Queen's University, Ontario; Benjamin Muller, Western University

COVID-19 vaccine passports are being presented as a relatively simple technological solution to our current travel woes. But meaningful public debate about their merits and problems is essential.

Our ancestors’ environment and diets, and the limits of our biology, have led to adaptations that have improved human survival through natural selection. But we remain prone to illness and disease anyway. (Shutterstock)

Evolutionary medicine looks to our early human ancestors for insight into conditions like diabetes

Albrecht Schulte-Hostedde, Laurentian University; Eric Boivin, Laurentian University; Meghan McCue, Laurentian University

Evolutionary medicine uses our ancestral history to explain disease prevalence and inform care for conditions like Type 2 diabetes. It also challenges the bio-ethnocentrism of western medicine.

In this March 2019 photo, Afghan artists work on a barrier wall of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs marking International Women’s Day, in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Women negotiators in Afghan/Taliban peace talks could spur global change

Vrinda Narain, McGill University

Without women’s inclusion and meaningful participation, any peace agreement between Afghanistan and the Taliban will lack legitimacy.

Wearable devices, like smartwatches, are becoming ubiquitous. (Shutterstock)

Smartwatches are a bigger distraction to drivers than mobile phones

Pierre-Majorique Léger, HEC Montréal; Sylvain Senecal, HEC Montréal

More and more people are incorporating wearable devices like smartwatches into their lives. But these wearables are a driving distraction that the public and law enforcement should be aware of.

Stretching exercises are often prescribed by health professionals, such as physiotherapists, to reduce pain. Shutterstock

Stretching can increase your tolerance for pain

Hugo Massé-Alarie, Université Laval

Some people with back pain see immediate benefits from stretching.

La Conversation Canada

Le Globe and Mail, le seul quotidien national au Canada, est celui qui exploite le plus les outils de l’IA dans la collecte, la production et la diffusion de l'information. LA PRESSE CANADIENNE/Adrian Wyld

IA dans les salles de nouvelles : une question de gros sous

Patrick White, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM); Nicolas St-Germain, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)

Les résultats d’une étude montrent que les moyens financiers ainsi que la portée du média semblent jouer un rôle dans l’intégration ou non des technologies liées à l’IA.

Il ne faut pas exagérer l’importance des notes. Sam Edwards/OJO Images via Getty Images

Les étudiants trichent ? C’est parce qu’ils manquent de motivation

Carlton J. Fong, Texas State University; Megan Krou, Teachers College, Columbia University

Pour éviter la tricherie, les recherches suggèrent que les professeurs se concentrent sur ce qui pousse leurs étudiants à apprendre en premier lieu.

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