Bindle, SMART Health Cards & The Case for Interoperability
Later this week, The Commons Project Foundation will host the SMART Health Card Global Forum and formally announce the release of its SMART Health Card Verifier App – a free product based on the SMART Health IT standards and powered by Affinidi.
The Commons Project Foundation website does a nice job explaining how this new app will work:
Scanning a SMART Health Card QR code reveals whether the SMART Health Card is valid, whether the issuer is in The CommonTrust Network’s Registry of trusted issuers, and key information on the SMART Health Card (issuer name, vaccine type, dates of vaccine doses, and name and date of birth of vaccine recipient).
At Bindle, we are thrilled with this development and welcome the introduction of a free product to scan the various SMART Health Cards being deployed by issuers all over the world, a full listing of which can be found here.
In many ways, this is the logical next step towards a vision of COVID-19 health credentials that we have advocated for since the founding of the company: open, interoperable, and available to all.
Several of our current and prospective partners and customers have asked how the Bindle verifier app differs from the SMART Health Card verifier app, so we thought it would be helpful to articulate the similarities and differences.
At a high level, we think the best comparable is the difference between Linux and Red Hat, where Linux is the open standard driven by a non-profit foundation and Red Hat is a for-profit company that helps organizations deploy and commercialize the open standard.
It’s also important to note that we don’t view the two offerings as competitive, but complementary. In fact, we have been working with Affinidi and PathCheck Foundation since early this year to ensure interoperability – so SMART Health Cards are readable by Bindle and so Bindle health certificates and entry passes conform to the SMART Health Card standard.
Let’s dig into the similarities between Bindle and the SMART Health Card Verifier app. First, both can verify that a SMART Health Card is valid and has not been tampered with. Second, both can verify that a SMART Health Card was issued from a trusted source, specifically an organization that is part of the CommonTrust Network, such as New York State, California, CVS, Walmart, Cerner, EPIC, etc. Third, both can read any SMART Health Card.
Beyond these similarities, Bindle was designed with a slightly different end goal – support for multiple health pass standards and optimization for speed of ingress – so we have a different value proposition for offices, schools, and venues, specifically:
For Individuals
Simplicity for all – Bindle intends to support all of the various health pass standards from around the world – not only the SMART Health Card standard – including the EU Digital COVID Certificate, the UK’s NHS Covid Pass, and many others.
Inclusiveness – We offer optional self-attestation of paper-based health credentials for those who don’t have access to verified digital credentials.
Privacy – Our Entry Pass approach provides an additional layer of privacy that ensures that no health information is shared or exposed
For Venues
Advanced Policy Rules – Health policies are powered by Bindle’s flexible rules engine. It is highly customizable to meet the different needs of Venues and the dynamic landscape of COVID.
Operational Efficiency – Each Bindle entry pass has the same design regardless of the credential from which it was generated. This means screeners don’t have to juggle multiple digital health passes or paper credentials – speeding ingress and minimizing the need for training.
Add-on Features – Options to include a customizable liability waiver, contact tracing capabilities and a “pre-check” functionality to monitor entry passes generated prior to an event.
Integration – Built on open APIs for easy integration with existing systems for ticketing, access control, employee management, student management, etc.
End to End Support
Communications – Templated communications are available for employees, students, staff, and patrons – a critical component when deploying health verification
Event Management – Easy onboarding and ongoing customer support – before, during, and after the event.
Individuals – Friendly and responsive customer service to help individuals address questions and technical issues
If you have questions on anything above, please reach out to your representative at Bindle or info@bindlesystems.com for more information.
