Coronavirus: Hong Kong technology minister dismisses need for real-name registration on ‘Leave Home Safe’ app; 3,674 new Covid cases logged

Hong Kong’s technology minister has dismissed the need to introduce real-name registration for the government’s Covid-19 risk-exposure app, noting that a SIM card system taking full effect from February next year will serve the same tracking purpose.

Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong stated his position just four days after the proposal was first raised by the city’s new health minister. Citing privacy concerns, Sun on Thursday said there were no plans to update the “Leave Home Safe” app, adding it already had some real-name functions through users’ vaccine records tied with the app.

“We don’t have plans to strengthen its real-name functions, and it’s impossible to add an automatic tracing feature to the app,” he added.

With prepaid SIM card users required to complete real-name registration with their telecommunications operators by February 23 next year, he added that the risk-exposure app would “naturally” contain users’ real names once the new rule kicked in.

Sun’s remarks came as the city recorded 3,674 cases, including 257 imported ones, and five related fatalities on Thursday, leading to an overall tally of 1,283,260 infections and 9,427 deaths.

The proposed new function had triggered public concern that authorities might take advantage of the smartphone app to track people’s everyday movements and collect data about their digital footprint, a claim city leader John Lee Ka-chiu denied.

Legislators and an analyst said Lo and Sun’s differing remarks could be confusing for residents and showed an apparent lack of communication within the new government.