Coronavirus: officials must address privacy concerns before launch of vaccination-record app for Hong Kong restaurants and pubs, industry leaders say
- Ray Chui, chairman of Institute of Dining Art, says the software should only show the number of vaccine doses customers have received
- Ben Leung, charter president of the Licensed Bar and Club Association of Hong Kong, calls for transparency over the new app
IT officials designing a mobile application to help Hong Kong restaurants and bars check their customers’ Covid-19 inoculation records under a new “vaccine bubble” scheme should address privacy concerns before its roll-out, industry and union representatives have said.
Business leaders in the restaurant and bar sector told the Post the government had been developing an app to show diners’ vaccination records before they entered premises.
Ray Chui Man-wai, chairman of industry body the Institute of Dining Art, suggested the technological tool should only show the number of doses the customers had received, as checking that would be easier for frontline staff.
“We hope the application will not allow restaurants to read too much of the customers’ private information,” he said. “The best version should be without any words, to save time for frontline staff.”
He added that he had already expressed his views on the matter to the authorities.
The app is expected to be a crucial tool for a three-stage road map on relaxing restrictions imposed on the city’s restaurants and bars.
The new rules, aimed to encourage more people to get vaccinated, are expected to take effect from April 29 at the earliest.