Since the NSW Health Dept began making businesses and other venues register their customers/visitors for contact tracing, most venues are complying by either paper-forms or the QR-code activated contactless registration method. Both methods take less a minute, but they nevertheless represent an extra bothersome step to each visit. Why doesn’t the government make use of the much-fanfared but so far not very useful CovidSafe app for such a purpose? I envisage a system whereby a visitor’s phone communicates with the venue’s CovidSafe “Register” on a computer or tablet upon arrival. This would only take a few seconds to complete a registration process, obviating the need for form filling–whether digital or paper–making life easy for all concerned. All that requires is some slight tweaking of the CovidSafe app programming. Going out these days is already fraught with danger and bother, shouldn’t government (State or Federal) put in some effort to encourage us to consume and stimulate the economy? This also means that businesses can’t keep our names and contact details unnecessarily. I know there are people who still don’t wish to have CovidSafe on their phones; let them continue to use the cumbersome manual methods of registration.
Yes, but the management of the personal information requested does raise some questions concerning how those details might be misused.
MacDonalds Qcode links to an App that you complete on your mobile phone or device. At least the big red and yellow clown included a privacy statement for the information collected.
Another cafe order at counter asked us to fill out our names, street address, phone contact and email details. The details of every other recent guest were in full view in the book provided, and there was no privacy statement.
Yet a third establishment asked us to write those details on our customer receipt and drop into an open box nearby.
We’ve had to provide details at a third business, but they were slack at checking compliance. In all instances none supervised directly, relying on some honesty, with 3 out of 4 leaving open scope to beat the system and exposing personal contact details. I’m assuming Macas can also be gamed although if you use your mobile the digital print is there regardless.
So using COVIDSafe as an alternate ID to register with an equally protected device on the counter would suit us. Neither we nor the business can access the content exchanged unilaterally.
It does, but there has not been a high enough uptake to make it fully reliable. As a result, secondary or additional recording systems like that adopted in NSW is also needed.
