This is my "I told you so face" 🙄 #COVIDsafe app'
- David Moore
- Nov 23, 2020
- 2 min read
The COVIDsafe app and its lack off effectiveness seem to have been forgotten.
But that's the funny thing about the data it has collected, it will hang around for a very long time, especially if...
...it is "incidentally" collected by someone.
But don't worry because... "... there is no evidence to suggest that any of the data was decrypted, accessed or used, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) has found."
There's an interesting thing about evidence, just because it wasn't found, that doesn't mean there isn't any.
Copy data without evidence of it having been copied is probably the easiest thing anyone can do with a computer.
So while there's "no evidence", there's also no way to know where else this data may be by now.
Remember when we were told emphatically that the data wouldn't be shared?
If you are interested, read the article linked above and try to spot all the weasel words and excuses used to try and get out of the fact that they collected COVIDsafe app data they "didn't need" accidentally.
There's only 3 excuses for this, they are lying, incompetent or lazy.
Extracting subsets of data is something computers are able to do very well if the person writing the code doesn't fall into one or more of the 3 excuses above.
AND, how good is our "Privacy Act" if it lets this happen?
Sure they're "trying to delete it as soon as practical" but they've got 6 months and who knows what will happen between now and then.
Will anyone be checking this has happened and reporting back to us?
I doubt it.
And given what we know, it would actually be meaningless.
I don't enjoy being cynical by default, but seriously, what confidence are any of these agencies giving us that we should behave otherwise?
None.
If you don't like the game, don't play. Delete the COVIDsafe app'.
NOTE: By October 27th the COVIDSafe app has identified just 17 unique cases of COVID-19 since its release in April. https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2020/just-17-unique-cases-found-by-covidsafe-app.html
Have fun,
David
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