ILOILO City – The city government temporarily suspended the registration for its online contact tracing system. Days after its launch, people came in droves digitally to register and obtain quick response (QR) codes required for entry into establishments or offices.
But the heavy registration traffic crashed the servers, according to Executive Assistant Francis Cruz. He saw no indications of a cyberattack.
Thousands of requests per hour inundated the Uswag Tracer website https://www.uswagtracer.com.
So far, around 27,000 were able to register, Cruz told Panay News.
On Thursday, the website periodically crashed, leaving users frustrated with “error” messages and glitches, and unable to sign up.
This is now a major concern among Ilonggos, as the city government decreed to make these QR codes mandatory beginning December.
Many complained they couldn’t get through the site or get to complete their registration.
This new contract tracing system will replace manual contact tracing forms, wherein people take turn using a pen – a potential transmitter of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Also, the secrecy of personal data could not be assured if these are contained in a form filled out by customers.
Individuals six years old and above who are residents, working or visiting this city are mandated to secure QR codes – the black, machine-readable code consisting of an array of black and white squares, typically used for storing URLs or other information for reading by the camera on a smartphone.
Initially, for a month already, the system is being implemented at city hall and the city’s district offices. So far, only city government employees have QR codes in their IDs.
According to Jeck Conlu, Iloilo City COVID-19 Team spokesperson, all establishments have to assign a staff to scan QR codes of individuals entering their premises.
The QR code system is also in preparation for the anticipated influx of people from other provinces and cities this December for the Christmas season, said Conlu.
Meanwhile, Cruz said the registration will resume once the verification of those currently registered individuals is completed./PN
