Starting from Friday noon, people can use a “personal safety number” instead of a phone number on sign-in registers when visiting public facilities, such as restaurants and cafes. 

The Personal Information Protection Commission and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the system was introduced to prevent the leak of personal information, including cell phone numbers, which are recorded in such registers. 

A personal safety number comprises four numbers and two letters. It will appear when people go to the quick response(QR) check-in screen of Naver, Kakao or PASS, which currently issue QR codes. 

If people memorize their personal safety number, they’ll be able to simply jot it down the next time they go to a cafe instead of having to click on their QR screen. This number can be used until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.