Govt urges people to update LeaveHomeSafe app

The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) on Thursday urged people to update their LeaveHomeSafe app to the latest version and store their vaccination records in it, to get ready for the vaccine pass scheme.

From February 24, only vaccinated people will be allowed to enter a range of premises including restaurants, supermarkets, malls, gyms, hair salons, and religious venues.

In a statement, a spokesman for the OGCIO said those who are exempted from vaccination can also store the relevant certificate in the app for display.

If anyone runs into problems using the app, they can seek help from OGCIO staff based at 25 MTR stations.

The office also said that specified premises under the vaccine pass scheme are required to download and update a separate app – the QR Code Verification Scanner – to check customers’ records.

It said this app keeps the names and other personal details of customers.

“When confirmed Covid-19 cases have visited the venue, such data can assist the Centre for Health Protection in tracing persons with a high risk of infection and cut the transmission chains in the community as quickly and precisely as possible,” the spokesman said.

But the OGCIO stressed that the personal data stored in the app will be encrypted and will not be accessible to the venue’s staff.

“The data temporarily saved in the ‘QR Code Verification Scanner’ mobile app will only be stored for 31 days for anti-epidemic purposes. Personal data will be encrypted, masked and hashed into unidentifiable information. Even the venue staff cannot view the information stored in the ‘QR Code Verification Scanner’ mobile app and the data will be deleted automatically after 31 days.”