The Privacy Commissioner is warning written record keeping options for Covid-19 contact tracing may be putting people's personal information at risk.
Currently, all businesses and venues are required to display a mandatory QR Code to digitally scan with a smart phone and an alternate paper version to make an entry by hand in order to aid contact tracing efforts if a person with Covid-19 visits the location.
However, Privacy Commissioner John Edwards is concerned that the wrong people could be gaining access to the information presented on the paper-based Covid register.
While most businesses are displaying a QR code, some are relying on the paper alternative which Edwards says leaves people's information exposed to the public, which may go against the Privacy Act.
The Privacy Commissioner said businesses leaving personal details in a "public facing position" where it can be viewed by the public is a "leading cause of privacy breaches relating to Covid-19".
"It's important that businesses provide other methods of collecting and storing contact tracing records, but in ways which also protect privacy of those whose details are being collected," John Edwards said.
Under the Act, businesses are legally required to protect people's privacy through their record keeping systems.
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