iTnews

NSW pushes its QR code app ahead of digital contact tracing mandate

By Justin Hendry on Nov 11, 2020 4:21PM
NSW pushes its QR code app ahead of digital contact tracing mandate

Businesses 'strongly encouraged' to adopt before November 23.

Hospitality venues and other businesses in NSW have been urged to adopt Service NSW's in-app Covid Safe check-in tool ahead of the introduction of mandatory digital registration in two weeks' time.

It comes a week after Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a deadline of November 23 for businesses to introduce systems to capture contact details electronically for contact tracing.

Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello on Wednesday said that select businesses that had not introduced any system for digital registration by this date would face a penalty.

In situations where customers don’t have a smartphone or there is an outage, businesses will be able to manually record contact details and the time of entry on a device using Excel, for example.

“Complacency is our greatest threat and any business that thinks they are above the law will face serious penalties,” Dominello said.

“I strongly encourage businesses to download a free NSW government QR code and for customers to use the COVID Safe check-in through the Service NSW app.

“So far more than 16,000 businesses have used a NSW Government QR code and 94 percent of customers have given the COVID Safe check-in the thumbs up.”

The Covid Safe check-in tool, which went live in September after a short trial, lets Service NSW’ app users check into a participating venue by scanning a QR code.

The app automatically captures the date and time of a visit, and securely stores the information on a Service NSW database for 28 days before being deleted.

No personal information, including name, email address and mobile phone number, is shared with the venue.

Crucially, the Covid Safe check-in tool avoids the need for businesses to use third-party options, which privacy advocates have raised concerns about in recent weeks.

“Any business that is serious about safety should be using digital registration, such as a QR code or other method of capturing contact details electronically. There are no excuses,” Dominello said.

“We have to move away from the walk-in culture to the check-in culture. This is about building resilience as we continue to open up as safely as possible heading into summer.

“The overwhelming majority of businesses do the right thing but inspectors have told us that some just don’t get it and have inadequate check-in systems.”

NSW and the ACT are the first states to introduce a government developed QR code solution, though Victoria is also in the process of developing one.

Got a news tip for our journalists? Share it with us anonymously here.
Copyright © iTnews.com.au . All rights reserved.
Tags:
contact tracing coronavirus covid19 digital governmentit nsw nsw government qr code service nsw software state government

Partner Content

MSI shows first laptops with Wi-Fi 6E, Nvidia RTX 30 graphics
Partner Content MSI shows first laptops with Wi-Fi 6E, Nvidia RTX 30 graphics
MSI launches innovative new laptops
Partner Content MSI launches innovative new laptops
Improving returns from SD-WAN spending
Sponsored Content Improving returns from SD-WAN spending
NCS expands into Australia in partnership with Optus Enterprise
Sponsored Content NCS expands into Australia in partnership with Optus Enterprise

Sponsored Whitepapers

The risky business of open source
The risky business of open source
Mitigating open source risk in your organisation
Mitigating open source risk in your organisation
How to choose a WAF that's right for you
How to choose a WAF that's right for you
The global telco 5G cloud gaming opportunity
The global telco 5G cloud gaming opportunity
Building a ransomware remediation backup strategy
Building a ransomware remediation backup strategy

Events

  • On-Demand Webinar: How Poly and Microsoft are Embracing Future Work Environments
By Justin Hendry
Nov 11 2020
4:21PM
0 Comments

Related Articles

  • NSW digital driver's licence demand is triple first-year estimates
  • Service NSW's in-app contact tracing tool goes live statewide
  • NSW changes direction with digital driver's licence 'copy solution'
  • Service NSW repurposes its app for contact tracing
Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Email A Friend

Most Read Articles

Telstra pilots its first neurodiversity recruitment program

Telstra pilots its first neurodiversity recruitment program

Update Chrome or risk remote takeover, US govt warns

Update Chrome or risk remote takeover, US govt warns

Accellion hack behind Reserve Bank of NZ data breach

Accellion hack behind Reserve Bank of NZ data breach

Google unravels state-of-art Android and Windows exploit chains

Google unravels state-of-art Android and Windows exploit chains

You must be a registered member of iTnews to post a comment.
Log In | Register
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without prior authorisation.
Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of nextmedia's Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.