Government App Creates Digital Divide

Government is enforcing the use of Leave Home Safe app

The Hong Kong government is desperately thinking of ways to please Beijing in order to lift the border, and the latest move is to make anyone who wants to enter a government building use the Leave Home Safe app from November 1.

That means barring them from concert venues, libraries, sports facilities, government buildings and museums. It's not clear if this will also extend to public washrooms and wet markets.

The app logs in places the user has been to

While there are some people who refuse to download the app for various reasons that range from distrust of the government to not believing in the app's effectiveness, others simply don't have a smartphone, and so they can't use the app to scan a QR code to check in and check out of any building, restaurant, hotel, shop and so on.

But NGOs are particularly concerned for those in the low-income bracket who can't afford to have a smartphone, and as a result will not be able to access the services they need.

Anne Sit Kim-ping of the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO), said she feared the homeless, who relied on freely available public facilities such as libraries and sports centres, would now be unable to enter, given that many did not own a smartphone.

The homeless also often sought help in processing aid documents from various government offices, including the Social Welfare Department, Home Affairs Department, and judicial buildings. 

"We are concerned that homeless people will find it very difficult to look for help when this new requirement sets in," she said.

Those who don't have the app can't access libraries

"During the summer months, public libraries are one of the few places where homeless people stay indoors during the day. Street sleepers also use free public access to sports centres to refill water bottles or take a simple shower."

According to government figures, the number of registered homeless people in Hong Kong rose to a record high at the end of June to 1,562, compared to 787 in 2014. The numbers of unregistered homeless people is probably even higher.

Sit estimated just 10 to 20 percent of homeless people the NGO worked with owned a working smartphone, adding that charities typically lent only basic phones that didn't have the capability to support mobile apps.

Up until now people who do not use the Leave Home Safe app in government buildings had the option of filling out their contact details on a paper form. But from November 1 that will not be available.

They won't be able to go into museums either

There are exemptions for those under 12 and over 65 years of age, and the disabled who cannot use the app. They will need to fill out their names, the first four digits of their ID cards and the date and time of their visit.

By scanning the QR code, the Leave Home Safe app logs all the places the person has been including the date and time. When someone test positive and was in the same location at the same time, they are supposed to be alerted to get tested right away.

However, by making everyone use the app, that immediately creates a digital divide for the haves and have-nots, people Sit is referring to who not only need access to government departments, but also use basic facilities. By not having a smartphone, these underprivileged people will be shut out even further from society and their dignity more profoundly affected.

Obviously the government has not thought about these people, and a solution needs to be found. Quick.