App a helping hand for business

A secure app to record contact details is being offered for free to local businesses.

PD Silva from Data Pentagon has a personal connection to Phillip Island, having previously worked with Mat Bowtell on the Free 3D Hands project.

He’s offering the app for free to help ease the administrative burden for local restaurants, cafes, bars and other businesses required to record contact details for their customers and store them for 28 days.

Currently many venues use a manual system, which is an added task for staff. It also raises security concerns for some customers.

PD said the app is a secure and easy system for the businesses and customers to use.

“We’re doing this to help the community,” he said.

“It’s a way to help businesses out in these difficult times.”

As a Cyber Security start-up business, ensuring people’s details are kept safe is a primary focus of the system.

Once a business has registered with the Data Pentagon App, it displays a QR code which customers scan, using the Data Pentagon app, when they enter the premises.

The business will need to request customers use the app as a condition of entry. The app can be downloaded to mobile phones from the App Store.

“Customers scan the code, then enter their details. Once they’ve done this, the app remembers the details. So next time they go into any café or bar, they simply scan the QR code and the app fills in the rest.”

The details are then transmitted to a secure channel in the cloud.

For added peace of mind, PD said as customers have the app on their phones, no one else has access to it. And when details are provided for a business, the information is securely stored in the cloud and then deleted after 28 days, in line with Victorian Government requirements.

Business owners interested in using the app, can find out more at the Data Pentagon website.

“If you go to the website, it has all the details, including a video showing how to sign up and use it,” said PD.

“If there are any issues, they can also contact me.”

The app is currently being used by businesses across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

Visit www.datapentagon.link/covid.html for details.

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