New York City has unveiled a vaccine passport system that could see anyone unable to prove they have taken the COVID shot barred from events venues.

Anyone attending events where the system is in place will be required to use a phone app or paper version of the pass to display their ‘green’ vaccination and testing status, with state guidelines in place to mandate the scheme.

Dubbed, the “Excelsior Pass”, the system was tested for a second time at Madison Square Garden this week during a New York Rangers game.

WENY News

The system, which was first tested at The Barclays Center last month, was announced this week by Governor Andrew Cuomo, who claimed that all information gleaned will remain “completely confidential.”

Image: NY.Gov

Cuomo stated that “The Excelsior Pass will play a critical role in getting information to venues and sites in a secure and streamlined way, allowing us to fast-track the reopening of these businesses and getting us one step closer to reaching a new normal.”

The system, which uses a QR code is ‘voluntary’ for now, but is likely to be made mandatory when it is fully rolled out.

New restrictions now implemented in New York require that venues with a capacity of over 10,000 to ensure everyone inside has tested negative for Covid-19 up to 72 hours before an event, or to prove they’ve been fully vaccinated.

The Excelsior Pass is based on a health pass system developed by IBM, meaning that it can easily be adapted for use by other cities and states.

Covid passport systems, which we have been covering for months now, are being rapidly adopted worldwide both domestically and for international travel, despite the fact that the immunity status of vaccinations is not yet extensively known, and despite warnings that such schemes risk creating a two-tier society, infringing on the liberties of those who choose not to take the shot.

Israel has rolled out what it is calling a ‘Freedom bracelet’, a tracking device that will serve as an alternative to a two-week quarantine for anyone entering the country from abroad.

The device, which looks like a smart watch is being produced by a company called SuperCom, which has previously worked with governments of several countries on systems to track and monitor prisoners.

Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Ordan Trabelsi, the CEO of SuperCom, said “We call it a ‘freedom bracelet’ because we are not locking anybody up, but rather giving them the opportunity to go home.”

…And be tracked by the government if they try to leave their house.

“Nobody is forced to do it, but for those who are interested, it gives them another option: more flexibility,” Trabelsi added.

Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

So, the choices are be locked up for two weeks in a military-administered quarantine hotel, or take the tracking bracelet.

It doesn’t really sound like ‘freedom’.

The development comes at the same time as a court ruling demanding that the country’s domestic spy agency the Shin Bet must back off Covid-19 contact-tracing surveillance.

The court ruled that the efforts are “draconian” and a threat to democracy in the country, and can only be used in emergencies.

Israel is also operating a two tier society where those who have been vaccinated have a ‘green pass’ to go where they want, and those who haven’t must stay under lockdown.

The free speech alternative to Twitter, Gab has been hacked, with those behind the action promising to release a treasure trove of information including passwords, private posts, and messages.

NEW: Far-Right Platform Gab Has Been Hacked—Including Private Data https://t.co/FaeQDfQTgI

The transparency group #DDoSecrets will make the 70GB of passwords, private posts, and more available to researchers, journalists, and social scientists.

— Emma Best 🏳️‍🌈🏴 Demon Hacker (@NatSecGeek) March 1, 2021

The hacking group calling itself ‘DDoSecrets’ says it has obtained 70-gigabytes of data, and has dubbed it “Gableaks”.

Among the “private posts, user profiles, hashed passwords for users, DMs, and plaintext passwords for groups,” is data for an account supposedly belonging to President Trump, as well as an account owned by Gab’s own CEO, Andrew Torba.

DDoSecrets cofounder Emma Best told Wired that the data “contains pretty much everything on Gab, including user data and private posts, everything someone needs to run a nearly complete analysis on Gab users and content.”

“It’s another gold mine of research for people looking at militias, neo-Nazis, the far right, QAnon and everything surrounding January 6,” Best claims.

Gab released a statement Gab announcing that it is “aware of a vulnerability” on its platform, claiming it has fixed it.

Torba charged that Wired is “in direct contact with the hacker and [was] essentially assisting the hacker in his efforts to smear our business and hurt you, our users.” 

The Gab CEO labelled those behind the action “mentally ill tranny demon hackers”, further suggesting that they are “The same people” who “targeted law enforcement officers and their family members last summer.”

pic.twitter.com/aNZFUkXKDK

— Gab.com (@getongab) February 28, 2021

In addition to Trump, the hackers also claim that they have obtained the passwords of Infowars’ Alex Jones, Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.

It is claimed that so far neither Wired nor DDoSecrets has attempted to decrypt the passwords, or gain access to the accounts.