An Australian open banking fintech startup is using card purchase data and AI technology to alert people if they have visited a Covid exposure site.
The Covid Hotspot Alert sends users who made a card purchase at a hotspot venue or suburb a text message alerting them of their exposure. Currently only available to New South Wales residents outside of Greater Sydney, it draws on NSW Health data.
By matching customer spend data and Covid exposure site data, the service can notify users who have transacted at a venue of concern within minutes of NSW Health announcing it. Adatree says that it can currently take up to four days for people to get NSW Health Alert warnings.
Adatree says its free service is the first non-financial use case for Australia's Consumer Data Right rules.
Minister for superannuation, financial services and the digital economy, Jane Hume, says: “We've said from the outset that the Consumer Data Right is about empowering Australians, putting them in charge of their own data. Here we can see a prime example of that - Australians using their data for health and community protection."