QR code and Covid: restaurants, health pass… How to get it?

QR CODE and COVID – The QR Code becomes the practical sesame for your outings to places where the health pass is required. A QR Code has also been displayed at the entrance to restaurants since their reopening. Customers can scan it through the TousAntiCovid Signal app, a digital version of the reminder notebook. What is the difference with the health pass, how does it work? We tell you everything.

[Updated July 20, 2021 at 4:44 p.m.] This is the small logo symbol of this summer 2021, which is still so special because of the Covid: the QR Code. It is used in France for two specific cases: access to a place such as restaurants (to signal its presence and possibly be contacted if a case of Covid-19 has been detected) but also to present the health pass. Remember that access to restaurants, bars or cafes is not yet subject to the health pass, therefore to a possible vaccination. This is not the case if you want to go to the museum, the theater, the amusement park, the gym or a swimming pool, the library or for travel.

Since July 1, 2021, it is possible to obtain a health pass in digital format with QR Code. This QR Code is different from the one used for restaurants since it mentions a possible vaccination, a negative test or immunity linked to a previous Covid contamination. It is possible to retrieve the QR Code of your health pass free of charge via your Ameli profile on the health insurance website or the SIDEP portal for tests. It features the famous QR Code which will make checks easier! Once you have your vaccination certificate or test in hand, simply scan the QR Code on the right to import it and store it locally, on your phone, with TousAntiCovid Carnet.

To access the restaurant, it is currently required to report your presence in order to be contacted in the event of contamination with Covid-19. If the measure was already tested last fall with the paper reminder book, it is also being modernized. Thanks to the TousAntiCovid Signal application, the contact tracing device in restaurants is carried out digitally, even if it is always possible to use the paper reminder book.

The goal? Report visitors who have been exposed to someone positive for Covid-19 to self-isolate and get tested. More practical than the reminder book, this QR Code format should also make it possible to better trace the chains of contamination and counter them more quickly this summer. While not mandatory, it is an easier option for restaurateurs to set up. This QR Code is not linked to the health pass and therefore has nothing to do with a possible vaccination. In addition, a QR Code can also appear on the tables of restaurants, intended in this case for another use: to present the menu in its virtual version, in order to avoid any contact with the hands. But what is a QR Code? How to scan it? With what app? Is it mandatory? Here’s what we know.

An improved version of the barcode, the QR code is a square graphic made up of black modules on a white background which are a representation of a series of coded numbers or letters. The QR code stores information, up to 2 kilobytes of data, and makes it instantly accessible after being scanned, hence the definition of “QR” which stands for “Quick Response” .

Scanning the QR code is done using the camera or an app on a smartphone or tablet. Simply point the camera in the direction of the QR code, scan it using the TousAntiCovid application, or photograph it using the camera, then consult the integrated URL offered on the website. screen, when it comes to consulting the menu of a restaurant for example.

There are two QR Codes: the QR Code which represents your health pass, scanned from the Health Insurance teleservice via the Notebook functionality of TousAntiCovid and the QR tracking code scanned via the Signal functionality of TousAntiCovid: scanning the QR Code allows the application to record your date and time of passage in the place in question. The regional health agency and health insurance are then responsible for tracing and the alert system.

The QR Code is displayed at the entrance to restaurants, cafes and bars, flashed by customers with a smartphone or tablet. The customer must scan it using TousAntiCovid Signal, which tells the application its time of passage. No need to represent it at the exit, the application calculating the duration of the customer’s presence for two hours.

This QR code makes it possible to trace the chain of contamination in the event that a user who has had lunch or dinner at the same time in the restaurant declares himself positive for Covid-19, within 3 days. An alert is then sent to all the users concerned who must be tested and/or isolate themselves according to the level of alert proposed, in consultation with Public Health France and the UMIH, the union of hoteliers and restaurateurs. The alert is sent via the TousAntiCovid app.

The tracking QR Code is not mandatory for restaurateurs who can opt for the paper reminder book like last summer. “But I don’t recommend it… the QR code makes it easier for staff and customers,” said Laurent Fréchet, of the National Group of Independents (GNI), interviewed by Ouest-France. The paper reminder book remains present anyway. Customers who do not have a smartphone must enter their details there.

Please note, from August, the health pass will be required to go to a restaurant, café, bar… inside or on the terrace. You will then have to present your health pass in paper or digital format via the famous QR Code!

A decree published on February 12, 2021 and relayed by the JDD authorizes QR codes to identify people who go to the restaurant from the TousAntiCovid Signal application. If a positive case is detected and you have been reported in the same place as this Covid-19 positive person, an orange alert is then sent to you via the TousAntiCovid Signal application, inviting you to get tested quickly and limit contact . If three or more people who have eaten in the restaurant test positive on the following days, a red alert is then sent with instructions to isolate themselves and be tested.

The CNIL (Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés) considers that the device respects the rules of the protection of personal data since the QR code does not geolocate or trace the movements of the user and moreover, the data is stored temporarily. “When a person is alerted, TousAntiCovid users are neither informed of the name of the place where the risky contact took place nor of the identity of the contact person (this information does not exist on the server) “, is it written in the press kit communicated to journalists.

The data stored is less intrusive than the paper notebook at the entrance to restaurants where you have to note down your identities and telephone number. “There is no location history but only correlations made between the different QR codes, and all data is erased after 15 days”, we assure the government. The Minister of SMEs, Alain Griset, is also reassuring in the columns of Le Parisien: “These QR codes are completely anonymous and do not allow you to find the name or address of the places. Customers and professionals will not be shown finger if a cluster forms in an establishment”.