CEO of Australian tech company Formitize, Matt Burge, saw the challenge businesses faced in quickly setting up secure
visitor record systems in order to be compliant with COVID-19 tracing requirements, and knew his software company could
help.
“As soon as I saw a cafe using paper forms to record the visitor details, I knew we had to step up and help solve a real
problem. It wasn’t private, it wasn’t secure and watching people pass around a clipboard and pen to each other meant
that a system designed to restrict COVID-19 could actually potentially be spreading it.”
The data privacy risk is real and already there has been several stories that have emerged of stalkers viewing the paper
forms and stealing the personal details of people. In one incident, a woman was harassed by a stranger who stole her
contact tracing details during a trip to the SkyCity casino in Hamilton, New Zealand, and in another, a restaurant
worker used personal information collected on the paper record to make unwanted advances towards a woman who was left
shaken by the incident.
“The risks to privacy may be why so many businesses are reluctant to comply with Covid-19 contract-tracing regulations.
With new hotspots re-emerging, we wanted to act quickly to help optimise the tracing process and give businesses a tool
they could set up instantly, that was really simple to use.”
The paperless Electronic Visitor Record safety system - aptly named EVRsafe - is completely free, can be set up in just
two minutes, is automatically branded with the businesses logo, and includes a Visitor Entrance Poster with unique QR
code that can be used at all entrances together with Table Cards that can be placed on tables, counters and point of
sale areas. It is a complete end to end system with a high level of security, says Burge.
When a patron walks into a business, they'll see the Visitor Entrance Poster with a QR code which takes them to a simple
form where they enter their telephone number and name. They submit the form and it’s done. Only the authorised person
who registered can access the information if they need to on behalf of the authorities.
According to Burge, in just a few days since launching, there has been thousands of visitors so far that have been
securely recorded with the EVRsafe solution from facilities all over the world. This has included cafes, restaurants,
hotels, sporting clubs and conference centres.
“We knew that cafes and restaurants would benefit, but there has been so much take-up in areas that we hadn’t even
considered like sporting clubs, funeral businesses, councils and professions such as accountants - who in turn are
recommending the solution to their clients. The more people benefiting from it the better as far as I am concerned.
“We need to beat this virus as fast as we can, so we’re giving the solution away for free and we’re really pleased we’ve
been able to engage part of our technology to help, for everyone’s sake.”
For more information: https://www.formitize.com/evrsafe/