LCSD continues to enhance booking procedures of SmartPLAY

     ​The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) said today (November 14) that the department has been closely monitoring the operation of the SmartPLAY system since its launch on November 9 and taking follow-up actions. After adjusting the system settings over the past few days, the system has been smoother and capacity multiplied to allow booking of facilities by thousands of users simultaneously. Before logging in, an online queuing system has beed added, so that the users can queue in an orderly manner. At present, the system allows 20 000 users to line up simultaneously. This morning, 3 000 bookings have been completed within the first half hour. After that, users can enter the web page for booking without queuing.

     The department will continue to closely monitor the operation of the system and will follow up as appropriate to ensure that users can book leisure venues more smoothly. 

     After the implementation of SmartPLAY, the hirer must fill in the patron numbers of four other users as team members when submitting applications for booking of turf soccer pitches no matter through balloting or on a first-come, first-served basis. To combat touting activities, the hirer and three of the users named in the application must be present to check in for using the booked session. The above search user function is to facilitate users to search for their team members, making the booking process more convenient.

     The department noted the concern from users last night and immediately required the contractor to amend the system so as to enhance the procedures of booking turf soccer pitches through SmartPLAY. The function of adding users as team members by searching "User Account Numbers or Alias" has been removed from the Smart Self-service Stations and website of SmartPLAY (the relevant function on the mobile app will also be removed upon the approval of corresponding app stores), hence the full Chinese/English name of the users who are not on the friend list will no longer be displayed. The LCSD has also reported the incident to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data last night. Besides, the contractor has also started to modify the system so that when submitting the details of four other users for turf soccer pitches booking, the hirer can only select the users who had accepted the invitations to be included in the friend list. The team members will also receive notifications for successful bookings, ensuring the security of the users' information.

Ends/Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Issued at HKT 23:59

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Link for reference:

https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/clpss/en/webApp/NewsDetails.do?id=18319