Alberta vaccine card can easily be edited, forged
Posted September 20, 2021 7:59 am.
Last Updated September 24, 2021 4:35 pm.
EDMONTON – It may be easier than ever to access your vaccination record in Alberta, but the province has sent out the new proof in an editable PDF–which means you can easily counterfeit the card.
The often-frustrating turn to the MyHealth website to find your vaccine records has been replaced by the very user-friendly AlbertaVaccineRecord website.
All you need to do is punch in your health card number, birthday, and month of your final dose and you’ve got your proof.
However, this is easy to change.
CityNews tested it out and created a fake vaccination card for hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. It’s indistinguishable from a real one.
It may be easier than ever to access your vaccination record in Alberta, but the province has sent out the new proof in an editable PDF–which means you can easily counterfeit the card. CityNews tested it out and created a fake vaccination card for hockey legend Wayne Gretsky. It’s indistinguishable from a real one.
“Documents can be manipulated, they can be photoshopped. The list goes on,” said cyber security expert Ritesh Kotak.
“When it comes to the security of these documents, one of the big caveats is that it kind of operates on the honour system.”
And it’s not just a name you can change. You can also pretty much all of the information, including details on doses.
Alberta Health responded to concerns about the integrity of the printable vaccine card, saying it’s simply the nature of any document of this kind.
RELATED: Vaccine passport program changes, other restrictions go into effect in Alberta
Kotak says Alberta needs something like a more secure QR code, which the province says it is working on.
“It’s a three-dimensional bar code that has certain information within it. A, Are you vaccinated? B, your name. And C, in some cases, your date of birth. And when a companion app ends up scanning it, it will verify whether that code is legitimate,” explained Kotak.
Kotak says getting a QR code system running does take time to work out security and other kinks and hopes once the election settles a national framework will emerge.
“If we’re going down this route, we need more of a national strategy instead of isolated, segregated provincial strategies just to make the lives of Canadians easier.”
One other wrinkle to be ironed out is it appears interprovincial information has yet to be reconciled.
Alberta Health Services says anyone with out-of-province vaccine information can submit proof of doses. But depending on where you got your vaccine, that could be easier said than done.
