The federal government has released the COVIDSafe app, sparking a not unforeseeable debate about whether it's effective and whether a user's privacy can be guaranteed.
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IT strategist George Fong, director of Lateral Plains and a barrister, says he supports the app, with qualifications.
"The app has been rushed," Mr Fong told The Courier.
"I'm not against the app, and a friend of mine in Singapore who is leading the fight there, and chairs WHO's Outbreak and Response committee, is strongly encouraging me to support it. He said there was a 20 per cent take up in Singapore."
COVIDSafe is one of a number of mobile software apps being used by governments worldwide in an attempt to control the coronavirus outbreak by creating a contact tracing network.
Other countries to use mobile apps include China, Singapore, Colombia, North Macedonia, Norway and Israel. Each app has variations, with differing security and privacy conditions.
Over a million Australians signed onto the new app after its release. The success of the app requires a take up of about 12 to 13 million users, or 40 to 50 per cent of the population. Australia's version is based on the technology used in Singapore called TraceTogether.
Singapore's response was informed by the experience of SARS of 2002-2003, and saw the tiny country institute a strong regime of testing and penalties. While it had early success in restricting the spread of COVID-19, it is now struggling to contain the virus after outbreaks among foreign workers.
Relying on Bluetooth, once the COVIDSafe app is installed it will scan other nearby COVIDSafe-installed phones for information. That information will include if another COVID-positive person has come near enough to you for you to be alerted by state and territory health officials.
Talk about getting carried away. You all sign up to apps all the time: strava, ubereats, tinder, googlemaps, yet when it comes to saving lives, suddenly your data is sacred?"
- Facebook comment
Mr Fong says there are some definite shortcomings with the COVIDSafe app as it is currently configured.
"It already looks like it is using open source code components, and one of the hackers who decompiled the code found an admin back door for health officials," he says.
"The Google/Apple API is due out in a few weeks. It is likely to be stronger and safer. I hope they incorporate it. In the meantime, show us the code. Put out the changes to the Access and Assistance Act and the metadata legislation. Surely it's not that hard?"
Comment on the rollout of the app in Ballarat on The Courier's Facebook page said the collection of data was, ironically, already much further advanced under social media apps such the very one people were commenting on.
"If you do sign up, you still need to give permission for any data to be retrieved. Plus at any time, if you change your mind you can delete it and also have data deleted. It's really not that big (an) issue.
"Talk about getting carried away. You all sign up to apps all the time: Strava, ubereats, tinder, Googlemaps, yet when it comes to saving lives, suddenly your data is sacred?" said one commenter.
Another wrote: "It's harmless. If it helps out in a few cases in the coming months, then good-o. I think people are still labouring under the misunderstanding that this will be "over" in a few weeks. Nope, tools like will be in use and potentially useful for at least the next two years."
Critics wrote: "Maybe if my data was on a secure server and not an Amazon server I might think about it. Public servers expose your banking info and all other info to criminal hackers quite easily. No thanks."
George Fong says the government has been quite hard on social media companies and the uses they put our data to. now it is time for the government to take the same approach itself and be transparent.
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