The QR code has turned COVID 19 check ins into a golden opportunity for marketing and data companies.
ABC news article: QR codes dated same as this blogpost published
This morning I was reading about the use of QR codes and the problem of data collection and the issues with privacy.
This is all in the context of 2020 Covid 19 and the rapidity of dealing with solutions to both the business and personal problems on the fly, to a large degree. (New issues that need to be addressed fast, and that are changing.)
Who collects the data, who has access to the data, how is privacy protected?
Keeping brief as I am trying so hard to work out the Research document for my study project.
Toward the end of the article it talks of the current UK aplication and a NZ aplication that functions similarly. That is to put the onus of data collection onto the individual rather than the business (cafe, restaurant, etc) and inevitably the data collection service.
Offering clients independence.
It got me thinking about the project I am working on and one point that we (my UX team) are aware of but perhaps could focus on is the program being offered to clients is one that gives independence to the management of the experience - the onus is on the customer. Although there are touchstones that need to be addressed and assessed it is still giving the client independence to manage their experience.
This is quite different to our defined comparative solutions to 'our' clients needs, where they would be prescribed solutions... I'll leave that there. Trying to explain my mild epiphany... without detail.
User Needs - who is addressing them? How are they addressing them? How are you addressing them?
Following is the relevant excerpt from the article:
Looking overseas for solutions
While the check-in measures have helped to allow authorities to quickly trace those exposed to outbreaks, experts say we should look to the United Kingdom and New Zealand to find the balance between public health and privacy.
The UK recently launched its NHS QR code program, which allows visitors to "anonymously register" that they've been to a location.
A person would enter a restaurant or public venue, scan a displayed QR code and the information would only be stored locally on the person's device like a personal diary.
When a person tests positive to COVID-19, health authorities would access the encrypted data directly from their phone and issue a public health alert about their movements.
Other people can then, through the app, check their own "diary" against those locations to determine if they've been exposed.
Across the Tasman Sea, the NZ Tracer app worked in a similar way and effectively removed the need for private businesses to manage the digital check-in process.
