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What To Look For, When Choosing A Contact Tracing Solution


With the advent of COVID-19, contact tracing solutions for business are popping up left right and centre. But with little to no oversight when it comes to privacy, security and safety. Things we at ClickTrace have observed from other contact tracing solutions, that we recommend to look out for:

  • Little to no transparency around who owns and stores personal data.
  • No privacy or data collection policies in place.
  • No security policies in place (i.e. Personal data being encrypted).
  • Little to no transparency around who accesses this data, and under what conditions this data can be accessed.
  • No cookie policies in place, if cookies are being used to store identifying keys for future access.
  • Tools getting paid commission to trick users to download external apps, while going through the tag/register/check-in process.

A number of cafes and restaurants not using digital tools, that instead had open notebooks where every visitors personal details were both visible and easily accessible to be both read/photographed/copied by anyone visiting their place of business.

This is not to say that all solutions available are insecure and not up to scratch, we found solutions besides our own like duckin.nz who are doing a fantastic job of ensuring they have ticked all the boxes for both themselves and their customers.

Given our knowledge base around digital privacy and security, we decided to put together some helpful tips for businesses to better navigate this new world of contact tracing.

At the same time, we'd like to really encourage businesses, who at present might see this all as a bit daunting, look at this in a different way. Contact tracing solutions, if used in safe, secure and permissions based way, could allow businesses to better connect with local loyal customers and encourage them to visit their business more often.

Ten Tips For Choosing A Contact Tracing Solution

1. Should I Choose A Free Or Paid Solution?

If it's free, there's a high chance the solution has ulterior motives to monetize your personal data, or make money through advertising and sneaky commisions on non related app downloads. Check the terms and conditions to see what your in for. If there are no terms and conditions, then be warned that what you're signing up for may not be what you end up getting. At ClickTrace, our solution is totally free. Why? We want to add value by helping local businesses survive and thrive by getting more people visiting their stores.

Along the way, you might decide we're good people and want to try out our Premium service that helps you get your local customers back to your store more often (At present we're the only solution available that offers this service). Or alternatively want to talk to us further about our other business solution called ClickTrackShip, which is designed to help your businesses thrive online.

2. Who Owns The Solution

We've seen a lot of solutions available that have no information available on who actually owns the solution. Are they a reputable company who has experience in developing personal data collection tools that adhere to privacy legislations? Or are they owned by an overseas marketing data farm, collecting personal information for profit under the guise of a "free" solution.

ClickTrace is a for love venture developed by Interactive Pulse Ltd. A company with an 18 year track record for developing secure, custom digital solutions for forward thinking business.

3. Downloadable App Or Web Browser Based Solution?

Asking users to download yet another App to access your place of business is a barrier to entry. And because we're yet to streamline the contact tracing process, that same customer might've already been asked to download five other apps from other stores before visiting yours. At this early stage of contact tracing legislation, we would recommend keeping it simple and option for a solution like ClickTrace which uses QR Codes, a web link, and a mobile phone without the need to download an App.

4. Privacy & Security

Does the solution have a robust privacy policy, one which your customers must agree to, each time they tag in, and does your business also have to agree to this privacy policy in order to offer the service to yoru customers? A robust privacy policy should ensure that your business is protected, and secondly that all your customers data is not only stored privately and securely, but that it is encrypted and only decrypted if requested by governing bodies. Those requests for data should also be logged as part of personal data protection so that their is a record of who the data was supplied to, and when.

5. Deletion Of Personal Data

The solution should include in its terms and conditions, that all data will be deleted when government legislation no longer requires this information to be stored.

6. Request Of Personal Data

Under privacy laws, consumers have a right to request for any personal data held by an organization about them, and have the right to request for this data to be deleted.

7. Cookie Policy

Under privacy laws, consumers need to be advised of what cookies will be stored when visiting a website or digital based application, as well as how these cookies will be used, and which if any external parties have access to the data that these cookies generate.

ClickTrace uses two encryption keys stored as cookies on a users mobile phone. These cookies contain no identifiable information about the user, and these cookies cannot be used to access any information through ClickTrace.

8. Customization

Although not required, it's a nice to have when you can tailor your customers experience to be in line with your brand. ClickTrace Premium offers the ability to customize the user experience with your branding and tailored messages.

9. Permission Based Customer Retention

We're firm believers in that every interaction should add value to peoples lives, and when it comes to business, why not use the interaction of contact tracing to your improve your customer experience. With permission based registation, you could automatically offer specials and rewards to loyal customers who frequent your business, as well send occasional spot deals to their email. Completely automated, with your customers permission, yet without accessing their personal information and still giving customers the option to unsubscribe at any time. You'll be hard pressed to find another solution that can offer these features but we encourage you to check out what other solutions provide.

10. Support

Also highly recommended, is a solution that offers a phone number and email to contact if you need support.

ClickTrace is here to help, and offers you support when you need it. hello@clicktrace.io

We hope this information helps you and your business make informed decisions when it comes to looking after your customers data, and if you do decide you want to try ClickTrace for your business, please click here to sign up.



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