Mensura supports QR code system for anonymous contact tracing at work

The whole world is looking for ways to track the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Contact tracing is essential in this respect, but guaranteeing individual privacy has proven quite a challenge. This is what prompted start-up Esoptra to develop a privacy-friendly contact tracing system based on QR codes.

Once we get back to work, anticipating new waves of contamination will be vital. To do this, we need to track down potentially infected individuals before they become symptomatic.

Savitas will send an anonymous alert to anyone who has come into contact with an infected person within your company. Those who receive such a message will need to self-isolate. This will allow you to prevent an outbreak of the virus in your company.

Since gatherings can prove unavoidable in some areas of your work premises, you can set up a QR code for that location. When they arrive at the location, employees voluntarily scan the code with their smartphone. There is no registration or app installation. Scanning the QR codes is therefore entirely anonymous, which safeguards the privacy of all employees.

• Someone with a certificate from a doctor who diagnosed a Covid-19 infection, will receive a code for Savitas from HR or the occupational physician.
• Savitas is informed of the infection via this code.
• Anyone who scanned the same QR code at the same time as the infected person is considered potentially infected.
• The next time they scan a QR code, the potentially infected persons are advised to self-isolate and call their doctor. This message is confidential.

The QR codes are not linked to privacy-sensitive data and companies cannot use or trace the data. Savitas is a voluntary system based on social behaviour.

Savitas is specifically designed to respect the privacy of its users. It is an extremely simple system based on social behaviour. Your employees voluntarily scan the code, just as they voluntarily wear a face mask or respect social distancing. Since the QR codes are simply scanned in the web browser of a smartphone, without requiring an app or registration, the system costs are limited to the purchase of the QR codes.

A smartphone’s web browser is completely separate from user data and does not use BlueTooth or GPS signals. The system has been validated by epidemiologists, health care providers, privacy lawyers and experts in security certificates.

Mensura will be the interface between its customers and Savitas. Specifically, we advise companies on the implementation of the QR system. You can contact us whenever you have questions such as: “Where should we place the QR codes?” or “How do we communicate this information to our staff?” You can also find a list of FAQs on the Savitas website.

“For companies, Savitas is a digital addition to the basic rules,” says Dr Gretel Schrijvers, General Director of Mensura. “Employees are free to choose whether or not to scan the QR code but they have a vested interest in doing so. As a society and economy, we must act preventively to keep reducing the spread of the disease. This is the only way to avoid a new lockdown. Scanning QR codes at the start of a meeting instead of shaking hands can be one of those measures.”