NZ COVID Tracer app evolving

News article

28 June 2022

The NZ COVID Tracer App is evolving to better reflect the current phase of the pandemic response.

The app, which creates a digital diary of places people have visited through the use of a QR code on people’s smartphone, now has more than 3.6 million registered users.

Earlier this year, total poster scans around New Zealand for any one 24 hour period had been climbing higher and higher, however understandably, the numbers have dropped in recent months as our response to COVID-19 has shifted.

The app was developed in 2020 providing New Zealanders with the opportunity to record a diary of the places they’ve visited and contact tracers the opportunity to identify locations of interest and other potential contacts of confirmed cases.

Earlier this year, the NZ COVID Tracer app won an award for Best User Experience at the Designers Institute of NZ Best Design Awards and a separate award for Use in Government at the NZ Open Source Awards.

The Ministry’s Deputy Director-General of Data and Digital, Shayne Hunter says changes to the app better reflect its current use and contribution to the response.

“While the app will still work, we’re deleting the registration feature from the app and deleting the personal information shared by people when they registered.

“This is also part of our commitment to protect people’s personal data and it’s important to reassure people that contact tracers can still use other data sources if needed.

“The app was developed comprehensively but quickly as one of the tools in our defence against COVID-19 and I’m incredibly proud of the product we’ve developed and the teams who’ve helped to develop it,” says Mr Hunter.

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