Social Distancing has been one of Australia's main weapons in fighting COVID-19. The federal government is now preparing to add a new contact-tracing app to its arsenal.
How it works
Phones with the tracing app continuously send and receive so-called ‘Bluetooth beacon signals’. These signals detect when a user's phone is near another phone with the app installed and tracks those encounters.
Should a user be diagnosed with COVID-19, contact tracers can request that data and use it to alert people who had close contact for 15 minutes or more, and are at risk of infection.
"The app will offer an enhanced capability for case detection and interruption of those transmission chains. And with any sort of infectious disease, that's our fundamental weapon at the moment in the absence of a vaccine." Said Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Coatsworth.
The Government is currently in contact with Singapore, which implemented similar software in March. But in Singapore, only around one in six citizens have downloaded the contact-tracing app, with the country witnessing a surge in cases.
The Minister for Cyber Safety, Paul Fletcher, explains that for this technology to be effective, it will need to be adopted by a significant amount of Australians.
"If that did happen, it could be, a very effective tool." Said Mr Fletcher.
It should be noted, that currently the smartphone application is still in development, and the National Cabinet is yet to authorise its use.
Victorian government ads on Stage 3 coronavirus-related restrictions as seen in Melbourne CBD. Source: SBS
Privacy concerns
As a result, a number of parties ask the question 'How far is too far?' when it comes to the use of government surveillance in fighting the virus.
Fergus Hanson is director of the International Cyber Policy Centre at the Ausytralian Strategic Policy Institute. Mr Hanson noted that there are still many questions about how the Australian app will manage its data.
"Unfortunately there's a long track record in designing these types of technologies in a way that's focused around the bureaucracies rather than the citizens. The risks are around how it's set up, so will the data endure? Will it live on beyond the COVID-19 crisis and be used for other purposes?" he said.
In addition, Privacy advocates are asking for clear limitations to be put in place. Lizzie O'Shea is the chair of Digital Rights Watch, a charity organisation aiming to educate and uphold the digital rights of Australian citizens.
‘’That means putting time limits on the kind of use of this technology, but also other limits to stop it becoming a default tool for surveillance. We're going to need the government to work harder to demonstrate that this is going to be useful, this is going to be limited to the purposes of public health, and not be a form of surveillance through the back door."
Minister Fletcher said the government will only proceed with the app if they are satisfied with the privacy safeguards it provides and if the community supports it.
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