
Show HN: We built a low friction registration service for UK pubs - wsces
https://checkin.pub/
======
wsces
[https://www.foodandwine.com/news/uk-pubs-reopen-register-
dri...](https://www.foodandwine.com/news/uk-pubs-reopen-register-drinkers-
covid-19)

UK pubs will reopen on Saturday but government issued guidance recommends that
venues require customers to leave contact details in case of a localised
Corona outbreak. We designed a simple service to collect the bare minimum data
to comply with both the registration guidance and GDPR.

Customers just send a four digit SMS locator to a number (or an email to a
special mailbox) and we log either the sender's phone number or email address
against the venue and the time of entry. We reply to the message with a
confirmation that can be shown to security/service staff. All data is
encrypted on the back end and retention periods are enforced. Data export is
controlled (and similarly encrypted) in the event that a venue is required to
provide by the public health authority.

This approach means data is accurate (non-trivial to forge sender headers) and
low friction for the customers. Not asking for personal details to be input
makes for a less invasive check in experience for the customer, whilst
maintaining compliance for the venue.

~~~
jjgreen
It is not clear to me that contact details will be _required_ , the government
message last weekend was that "pubs _should_ keep a list ...", not that "pubs
_must_ keep a list ...", and there is nothing that I have found that states
that this is a legal requirement. Perhaps you have more up-to-date
information?

~~~
wsces
The guidance does state ‘should’ rather than ‘must’ - I have amended my
comment to make it clear that it’s a recommendation (alongside lots of other
recommendations in the same guidance document)

Enforcement and policing of this is presently unclear (and will likely be
delegated to local environmental health and licensing authorities, from what
I’ve read - so may be inconsistent across the country).

I suppose if an outbreak is linked to a venue that hasn’t implemented the
recommendations it will (at best) reflect badly, and at worst attract
attention from the local authority in the same way as if other recommended
public health measures were not implemented.

~~~
jjgreen
Thanks, they really are leaving it a bit late for definitive rules on this.
There is no way that I'll be giving my name and address to Cummings, Serco and
co., so I'm anticipating spending Saturday looking for somewhere taking a
liberal interpretation on this (fortunately there are a quite a few to try).

~~~
wsces
Totally agree with you here, not to mention the venues looking at this as an
opportunity to boost their direct marketing lists. It's our view that all that
is required to contact me is a phone number - so that's all we collect!

