Privacy, usage issues mark lukewarm response to Hong Kong’s Covid-19 contact-tracing app ‘Leave Home Safe’
- Mobile app launches on Monday, with some complaining it is not user-friendly, while bar industry largely welcomes implementation
- Users can scan QR code at more than 9,000 locations and on 18,000 taxis to log their movements voluntarily
Public response to the Hong Kong government’s newly launched Covid-19 contact-tracing app has been lukewarm, with usage difficulties and privacy fears among top concerns.
The “Leave Home Safe” mobile app became available for download on Monday, allowing users to scan a QR code at more than 9,000 locations, including 6,000 public and 3,000 private venues, and on identification labels in 18,000 taxis to log their movements voluntarily.
The app will also notify users if a person confirmed with Covid-19 has recently visited those places.
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How Hong Kong’s new coronavirus contact-tracing app works
But reaction from the public has been mixed, with the Post observing that only a few passers-by noticed the QR codes at various locations in Causeway Bay.
At Hang Seng Bank in Jardine’s Bazaar, a retiree – who only gave her name as Irene – and her friends struggled to download and use the app.
“The elderly are not very tech-savvy so it was quite confusing with so many different QR codes on the door,” she said. “If there’s nobody to help, older people won’t know how to use it.”
Irene said she would continue to use the app but pointed out that it would only be handy if many places joined the scheme.
“It’s problematic because a lot of people will forget where they’ve been, which makes it difficult to do contact tracing. With so many asymptomatic carriers of the virus, the government should make it compulsory for everyone to check in at places they have visited,” she said.
