Keep Your Vaccine Card Selfies to Yourself

Throughout this pandemic year, we’ve seen our fair share of mis-steps, COVID-19 scams, and poor civic responsibility as the world struggles to deal with this new reality. But the latest issue, as sparks & honey strategists discussed in our One Year in Lockdown Briefing, is vaccine card selfies. 

Many are taking to social media to share their joy and excitement with photos of their COVID vaccine card after receiving their shot. But they’re potentially sharing more than just their excitement; they could also be divulging sensitive personal information. Indicative of our growing trend of Privacy Rights, multiple government agencies have warned about the risks of identity theft from posting vaccine card images online. One of the biggest concerns around the vaccine card trend is that the information is visible all in one place and easy to access, which could be used by cybercriminals to impersonate victims to healthcare companies or to attempt phishing scams.

On top of that, many high-risk Americans are still struggling to snatch one of these highly coveted vaccine appointments, in particular less tech savvy elderly citizens. A system that has become somewhat gamified, appointments go to those with the fastest finger and inside intel. As such, these vaccine card selfies could be perceived in poor taste. That’s not to say consumers and brands shouldn’t celebrate vaccinations and encourage the protection of public health. But there’s more sensitive ways to do so—take a (delicious) note from Krispy Kreme.  As Director of Cultural Strategy Ben Grinspan mentioned “I think people really want to mark this moment. The reason we have a little sticker that says ‘I voted’ is in part because you voted, but in part because you need something tangible. So I think if you don’t want people photographing these unbelievably tangible cards that show you’re vaccinated, you’ve got to give them an alternative.” For your security, stick with the sticker.

Watch the full briefing below