Corporate venture builder The Delta and the University of Cape Town (UCT) have teamed up to develop a new mobile application to track potential Covid-19 cases without infringing on privacy rights.

The Covi-ID mobile app uses QR code scanning to track and trace citizens’ health status, operating on blockchain technology to ensure the privacy of all users' information, offering a decentralised solution.

“Through blockchain technology applications like Covi-ID, we can assist in containing the spread of the virus without compromising the privacy rights of individuals. The intention is to track the virus, not the people,” said The Delta CEO Louis Buys.

With transmission rates of Covid-19 still high, and potential treatments and vaccines still to be developed, there is an ever-growing need for innovative solutions from all industries to assist society in tackling this pandemic.

“Covi-ID’s premise is simple: if you can anonymously figure out where the virus is spreading and from whom, without breaching core privacy rights of users, then you can also figure out who does not have it and where it is not spreading,” he commented.

This could allow healthier individuals, who do not pose risk or are not at risk, to continue their business operations, which will inevitably help revive the local economy sooner rather than later.

The application allows users to provide verified health status information without giving away all of their personal details through a self-sovereign identification management system.

Geolocation services will enable the Covi-ID app to trace the virus and the contacts of those who were in close proximity to individuals with the virus.

“As testing facilities become more accessible, both logistically and financially, the broader public will be able to have medical professionals verify their health status which will then be recorded on the blockchain,” he explained.

A three colour scheme approach has been adopted to use when individuals are entering public spaces such as restaurants or shops.

Green means the individual poses no risk, yellow recommends applying physical distancing and red requires self-isolation.

QR codes can be scanned upon entrance either through a smartphone or through a laminated paper-based disk for those with no access to a smartphone.

“For users with a smartphone, this digital identity can be obtained through the mobile app. For those without access to a smartphone, individuals will be able to have their information recorded through corporate partners through custodial self-sovereign wallets,” Buys noted.

A picture will be taken, along with certain details provided by the user, in return for the QR code.

“Another unique feature of the project is the economic incentive schemes that are offered, such as airtime vouchers, in return for individuals' practising good hygiene,” he added.

“Not only is the app tracking the status of those infected but it is also tracking the status of those who have recovered and are not infected, enabling healthier individuals who pose little to no risk to return to business,” he concluded.