Questions remain about coronavirus tracing app

THE federal government’s proposed coronavirus tracing app is still yet to be released, and there are still several unanswered questions about how it will work.
The Law Council of Australia is particularly concerned about the privacy implications, saying protections must be built into the app.
Announced last week by Prime Minister Scott Morrison – who said it would be released in the “not too distant future – the app will reportedly automatically collect only the phone number, name, age and postcode of a person you are physically near for more than 15 minutes. It will not track your location.
Information collected by the tracing app will be encrypted and stored locally on your phone, and only be uploaded to a government server if you test positive to coronavirus.
Although the Prime Minister has clarified the app will be voluntary, not mandatory, the federal government has set a target of at least 40 per cent of Australia’s population downloading the app for it to be effective.
The federal government plans to publicly release a privacy impact assessment for the app before it is rolled out, as well as the source code to be used by the app.
The Law Council of Australia supports both measures but, in a statement issued on Monday this week, president Pauline Wright says there “must be a balance between legitimate efforts to protect public health and individuals’ right to privacy”.
“If privacy protections are built in to the app, it will provide the public with greater confidence. There must also be strict limits on what kind of data can be collected and the uses to which it can be put, and there must be clear limits about how long data can be kept and when it must be deleted.
“It must also be made clear how the collection of data be limited to ensure that only the required or necessary data points to address COVID-19 are being collected.”
Ms Wright said while it was likely many of the unanswered policy details would be addressed in the privacy impact statement, it was “imperative that a comprehensive privacy impact statement is released publicly, as a matter of urgency, and that Australians are given an opportunity to comment”.
In other coronavirus news, the National Cabinet announced on Tuesday this week that some restrictions on elective surgery would be lifted after Anzac Day.
The Prime Minister said approved procedures included IVF, post-cancer reconstructive surgeries, all procedures for children under the age of 18, all joint replacements, and cataract and eye procedures.