On the evening of Sunday 26 April 2020 the Morrison Coalition Government released its COVID-19 contact tracing app "COVIDSafe" for download and installation on mobile phones by the Australia public.
The stated intention for the release of this app is to widely surveil the Australian population with the aim of tracing persons who have been in contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases.
This release did not come after the promised full disclosure of the app source code. Indeed this source code if or when it is finally released will be a redacted version.
It did not come backed by a full legislative framework which had been scrutinised by the Australian Parliament.
It came with a ministerial determination which had been published at one minute before midnight on Saturday 25 April 2020 and a one page website containing two download links, a link to "Privacy policy" and another to "Help topics".
It also came after the unannounced release of the promised Privacy Impact Assessment sometime on 25 April 2020.
Despite being assured that no federal agency can access data collected by COVIDSafe, one federal agency the Digital Transformation Agency has official permission to access data in certain situations.
To effectively use the app on a mobile phone Bluetooth has to be activated and some phones will be required to run the app in the foreground, others may find it can be run in the background. Recharging may have to happen more often and some existing phone functions may not always perform well.
Every mobile phone user with this app "will receive daily notifications to ensure the COVIDSafe app is running".
Once installed the app can be automatically updated (including with additional app functions) without notification to the user, unless automatic updates have been blocked on Google Play or Apple App Store.
It is up to each citizen and permanent resident to make their own decision concerning the downloading of this app as use of the app is voluntary.
UPDATE
Despite the Morrison Government insisting that "the COVIDSafe app does not collect your location", according to Google Play this app has GPS and network based functions so a mobile phone's precise location can be identified.
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