DDHK.ORG - The Hong Kong government encourages all residents to immediately update the LeaveHomeSafe app to the latest version. This is needed so that Hong Kong residents are ready to face the policy on vaccine requirements which will soon be implemented as a whole.
This was conveyed by the Office of the Chief Government Information Officer (OGCIO) on Thursday (17/2/2022), reported by RTHK. Starting February 24, RTHK wrote, only people who have been injected with the vaccine will be allowed to enter various public places, including restaurants, supermarkets, malls, fitness centers, hair salons and religious places.
In a statement, an OGCIO spokesperson said those exempted from vaccination can also save the relevant certificate in the app for display. If anyone is having problems using the app, they can ask for help from the OGCIO staff based in the 25 MTR stations.
The office also said that certain places under the vaccine permit scheme are required to download and update a separate app – a QR Code Verification Scanner – to check customer records.
It says the app stores names and other personal details of customers. "When (a person listed as) a confirmed case of Covid-19 has arrived at the location, the data can help the Center for Health Protection in tracking people at high risk of infection and breaking the chain of transmission in the community as quickly and accurately as possible," said an OGCIO spokesman. .
But OGCIO stressed that personal data stored in the app will be encrypted and will not be accessible to venue staff. “Data temporarily stored in the 'QR Code Verification Scanner' mobile app will only be stored for 31 days for anti-epidemic purposes. Personal data will be encrypted, disguised and hashed into non-identifiable information. Even the venue staff cannot view the information stored in the 'QR Code Verification Scanner' mobile app and the data will be automatically deleted after 31 days.” [DDHKNews]
