Photo: IC

Shanghai's health code that was developed for epidemic control amid the COVID-19 pandemic, named the Suishen code, now has a new role as the city is promoting it in more life scenarios including commuting, medical services, government services, employment and fitness, Shanghai authorities announced on Thursday.

Supported by big data technology, the code is carried by Suishenban, the mobile end of the city's one-stop online-offline services. In some scenarios, it is now used as proof of personal identification.

For instance, with the code, in some hospitals in Shanghai, the patients don't have to take their ID card or the social insurance card any more, according to the authorities. After binding their social insurance account to the code, patients can register, see the doctor, and take medicine simply by swiping their phones.

"It is more convenient than before, as I can come to the hospital any time I feel unwell without worrying whether I have the social insurance card with me," a Shanghai resident surnamed Zhang told the Global Times on Thursday, soon after she finished out-patient registration at a self-service machine in Shanghai Xuhui hosptital. 

"More importantly, I don't have to wait in long lines at the windows for registration and payment," she said.

Buses, subways, railways and a number of sports and cultural venues like libraries, theatres and soccer fields are also allowing users to use the code for access and transactions.

At some government service windows, residents can now scan the code to rate the services they receive.

The city is also looking at using the code in more fields like community management, population management, construction, exhibitions and even judicial expertise, the authorities said.

However, the high-frequency use of the code has raised concerns over the protection of personal data. "The code, running on the city's e-government cloud, adopts a strict security protection mechanism to provide a safe operating environment," Zhu Zongyao, director of the service provider Shanghai Municipal Big Data Center, said on Thursday.

It adopts technology to ensure the person behind a transaction is who they are, and provides a dynamic QR code to ensure the code's security and uniqueness, Zhu said, adding that the center has established firewalls in terms of technology, system and management, as well as a user complaint channel to ensure data security.

So far, over 34 million people have used the code, accounting for more than 1.26 billion times in total. The number of users from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau and other overseas users has reached 232,000.