‘Automatic record functions coming for tracing app’

The Secretary for Innovation and Technology Alfred Sit on Sunday said authorities are working with universities to see how the government’s contact-tracing app, LeaveHomeSafe, can automatically record people’s entry and exit times at venues.

He said there had now been more than 700,000 downloads of the app after the government said earlier this week people will need it to enter restaurants, business venues and government buildings, or leave their contact details with the businesses.

Sit said to “enhance users’ experience”, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer is working with the University of Hong Kong to make the app capable of automatically recording one’s entry and exit times through Bluetooth devices installed at venues.

He stressed the devices will only emit a signal and after people’s mobile phones received the signal the app will automatically record their entry and exit time. HKU is now testing the function on its campus, he added.

Baptist University, meanwhile, is developing a new function that would enable the app to find out when people get out of a taxi through big data analysis and changes in motion and location, Sit said.

The minister again dismissed any privacy concerns regarding the app, saying there’s also a need to ensure the health of the community so that people can make a living.

“Every single one of us shares this social responsibility and an obligation to fight the virus to help social activities get back on track,” Sit wrote.