DOH: StaySafe.ph app only an aid for on-ground contact tracing

MANILA, Philippines — StaySafe.ph is only an aid for on-ground contact tracing of possible COVID-19 patients, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Thursday amid concerns over the efficacy of the app to conduct contact tracing, an essential facet on the country’s fight against the novel coronavirus.

In a televised press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that while the StaySafe.ph provides helpful health tips and collects information key for contact tracing, she noted that the app is not meant to replace the actual tracing on the ground.

“It provides health tips, including reminders on social distancing and what to do in case you show symptoms. It also aids in contact tracing through the information it collects regarding the location of its users,” Vergeire said.

“However, as an exposure notification application, it is only an aid to contact tracing and it is not meant to replace it completely as contact tracing relies on active case finding on the ground in close collaboration with our local government units,” she added.

Earlier, former Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr. said he was “eased out” from his post after questioning the selection of StaySafe.ph as the country’s official contact tracing app.

StaySafe.Ph was developed by Multisys Technologies Corp., a company partly owned by telco giant PLDT Inc.

Malacañang recently assured that the app has the needed safeguards against misuse after Rio cited weaknesses in its privacy protocols.

But the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease earlier came out with a resolution designating DOH as keeper of the data that would be collected from the StaySAfe.ph app.