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5 ways Folio’s digital wallet will make your life easier

Digital identity is an idea whose time has come and the technology to power it and secure it is already here in the form of Folio.

1. IT’S ALL IN ONE
Just like a normal wallet, Folio stores everything you need in one place. That doesn’t just mean your credit and debit cards, but also your ID, store loyalty cards and any other important documents, too. That means the originals can stay safe at home.
Setting it up is simple. Take a selfie and a photo of your ID. (This can be your driver’s license, passport or national ID card.) The app uses its real-time checks to verify that it’s you. Then use the app to snap photos of the items you want aikdd to Folio. That’s it. You can use Folio to pay online, prove your age, or claim those crucial loyalty points at your favourite coffee shop or retail store.
2. IT’S MORE SECURE
If your debit card is lost or stolen, crooks can use it easily with contactless technology. Sorting it all out and saving your credit is a huge hassle. Getting into Folio is a whole different matter. If somebody finds your phone and somehow manages to unlock it, your valuable information is still safe.
Folio creates a biometric key from your selfie, but with far more comparison points and details than the facial recognition phones use. It also uses encryption to protect all your data that only you can access. It doesn’t get much safer than that.
3. YOU CAN’T LOSE IT
Losing your wallet or card is frustrating and time consuming to fix: Calling your bank, cancelling your cards, waiting for replacements. That’s not a problem if you lose your Folio-enabled phone. Folio allows you to backup all the app’s data in case it goes AWOL. As soon as you get a new phone you can safely restore your data in seconds from a secure backup.
4. IT’S MORE HYGIENIC
In the age of coronavirus, handling cash can be hazardous to your health. Think about how many people have handled that money before you. Yep, cash is filthy. There’s never been a better time to go cashless.
Things like Apple Pay and Android Pay mean you only touch your phone to buy stuff. Folio lets you pay cashless and avoid handing cashiers and clerks ID cards, rewards cards and other documents. That helps keep you safe.
5. IT SIMPLIFIES SHARING
Digital alternatives to traditional documentation are being widely accepted by businesses and governments around the world. Fewer and fewer people own printers and scanners, and fax machines are essentially dinosaurs used only by a few industries. Folio’s share function allows you to securely share documents and data with only who you choose and trust 100% – and only they ever see it. What’s more, it’s all done with a single tap. Folio is free to use on both iOS and Android. Find out more at folio.id.
*The original version of this article was published on www.stuff.tv

AirLabs Among 10 Most Impactful Companies Addressing COVID-19

Giving election officials tools for healthy elections

Smartmatic has teamed with The Infection Prevention Strategy (TIPS) to help election officials provide safe facilities for election workers and voters. TIPS is a nonprofit organization that exists to advance innovations, ideas and processes that make a difference in global health. Smartmatic, an SGO company and the global leader in election technology, has processed nearly 5 billion votes in elections on five continents.
After a customized risk-mitigation assessment, the combined team will provide election administrators a customized set of protocols to reduce the health risks to employees, volunteer poll workers and voters. All solutions meet guidelines and recommendations provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and/or local government health organizations. The solutions help election administrators apply high-level government guidance to their local election process.
The joint effort is offered through Smartmatic’s Election Continuity program. Through the program the company also offers disinfection technologies, hygiene supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure that jurisdictions can put prevention strategies into practice. For more information about Smartmatic, visit smartmatic.com

About TIPS:

The Infection Prevention Strategy (TIPS) launched in 2015 is a not-for-profit that exists to advance innovations, ideas, and processes that make a difference in global health. TIPS extends to 30+ countries and is the key strategic partner for many notable organizations, initiatives, and events. In the past few years, TIPS has contributed millions of dollars’ worth of scientific impact through various programs and initiatives. Currently, TIPS is conducting 20+ COVID-19 efficacy studies for innovations and processes for air, water and surfaces. For more, visit ic.tips

Clean air units help to protect first responders

Ambulance personnel driving COVID-19 patients to the hospital, risk inhaling airborne virus as patients puff pathogens into the air. A novel air filtration technology developed by Copenhagen Science City- based start-up company AirLabs is now being installed in 100 patient transport vehicles operating in London. The aim? To protect the drivers, the staff and the patients inside these vehicles.

Initially intended to protect against pollution

AirLabs was co-founded in 2014 by Matthew Johnson, a University of Copenhagen professor in atmospheric chemistry. One of their first products was the “AirBubbl”, an air filtration unit about the size of a wine bottle especially developed for cars. The company brought it out to protect drivers stuck in traffic while breathing the exhaust of the vehicle in front. When new corona struck, they realized that their device might protect drivers and passengers against this virus too.

Hovering contaminants

When patients cough, sneeze, talk or even breathe, they spread tiny virus-bearing droplets into the air. Some of them small enough to float around for hours. This can spread the infection to anyone close enough to breathe in their exhalations, and there is a direct link between how much virus you inhale and how sick you get. Matthew Johnson is confident that AirLabs’ AirBubbl can help reduce exposure for workers who cannot avoid close contact with coronavirus patients, and for anyone working in essential jobs in enclosed spaces.

Read more information here

Folio Mobile Health Passport Helps Economies Safely Reopen

Boca Raton, FL – Folio released its Mobile Health Passport to enable instant digital verification of a user’s coronavirus-related health status via their smartphone.

As states ease some lockdown restrictions, authorities and health institutions need to ensure the risks of secondary infection peaks are minimized. Verification of individuals’ health status does exactly that. Once citizens are tested for coronavirus, health entities can register the citizen’s health status and issue them an immutable, biometrically secure digital health passport to their smartphones. This digitized health passport enables increased and safer citizen mobility as governments begin to reopen their economies. The health passport is being provided free to state and local governments.

A digital health passport is superior to plastic health passports and wristbands in that they can be quickly updated. This is essential as the World Health Organization (WHO) considers new evidence that immunity does not always follow infection.

With its advanced biometrics and online verification, Folio provides certainty that the bearer of the passport is exactly who they claim to be with a verifiable health status at that point in time.
Folio’s digital wallet allows every individual to be in complete control of their privacy. Their credentials are secured locally on their smartphone, accessible only by them and shared upon their consent to verifiable authorities. Moreover, Folio’s streamlined, contactless digital-wallet alternative eliminates the need for plastic cards and wristbands (potential Covid-19 vectors) for most citizens.

“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have tailored our digital identity platform to incorporate this new Mobile Health Passport and are already working with governments that need quick and convenient health status verification,” said Tatiana Cogevina, Folio’s CEO.

Functions of Folio’s Smart Health Passport:
•    Issue mobile certificates that verify health status instantly to an individual’s digital wallet
•    Assure no certificate can be spoofed, tampered or misused by another person
•    Remotely revoke or impose limitations on certificates
•    Enable controls on user access to locations, facilities and services via biometric authentication