{"id":2573,"date":"2020-05-04T13:35:48","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T03:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com.au\/?p=2573"},"modified":"2023-06-30T00:11:49","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T13:11:49","slug":"should-you-download-covidsafe-consider-these-privacy-concerns-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com.au\/legal\/posts\/should-you-download-covidsafe-consider-these-privacy-concerns-first","title":{"rendered":"Should You Download COVIDSafe? Consider These Privacy Concerns First"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Australian Government recently launched COVIDSafe, a contact tracing app which continues to raise concerns about privacy issues and cyber security.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The lead up to its highly anticipated launch filled with intense public debate about the impact of the app on the privacy of its users. Information and undertakings provided by the Federal Government upon launching the app provided reassurance to many, but still leaves a significant number of sceptics in its wake, including parliamentarians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This article outlines the issues and considers whether there are in fact grounds for ongoing concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is contact tracing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Contact tracing, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/q-a-detail\/contact-tracing\">defined by the World Health Organisation in 2017<\/a>, is the process whereby health authorities can track down people who have come into contact with a person found to be suffering from an infectious illness. The evolving technology and its use in Australia are novel, not the process of contact tracing as such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the outset of the current coronavirus pandemic, contact tracing was being carried out manually in Australia, by the likes of the Australian Police Force and state and territory health departments. But in the context of the highly contagious novel coronavirus, it is easy to see the allure of modern tracking technology as a substitute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before Australia went down this surveillance route, Taiwan, South Korea and China reported successes with contact tracing apps to fight the spread of COVID-19. The benefits of enhancing contact tracing with technology are obvious to anyone. Nevertheless, privacy concerns remain. The privacy issue is whether the process constitutes an unwarranted intrusion on a person\u2019s private life, or at least whether it is a disproportionate intrusion when weighed up against the potential benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com.au\/posts\/coronavirus-surveillance-tactics-raise-questions-about-civil-liberties\">Coronavirus Surveillance Tactics Raise Questions About Civil Liberties<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Privacy context<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018Privacy\u2019 has sustained a limited meaning under Australian law, as there is no statutory definition nor statutory right to privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, there is no Australian Bill of Rights &#8211; most recently a private Member\u2019s Australian Bill of Rights Bill 2019 (Cth) was tabled in September 2019 and removed from the Notice Paper on 24 March 2020 \u2013 to negate legislative intrusions on privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our superior courts have meanwhile consistently rejected the notion that a right of privacy exists at common law. There was some perceived support for the proposition in Australian Broadcasting Corp v Lenah Game Meats Pty Ltd (2001) 208 CLR 199; 76 ALJR 1; [2001] HCA 63, but enthusiasm was subsequently dampened by interpretations of that decision in Giller v Procopets (No 2) (2009) 24 VR 1; [2009] VSCA 72; Kalaba v Commonwealth [2004] FCA 763; Sands v South Australia [2013] SASC 44 and Wilson v Ferguson [2015] WASC 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Privacy is a fundamental right enshrined in <a href=\"https:\/\/treaties.un.org\/doc\/publication\/unts\/volume%20999\/volume-999-i-14668-english.pdf\">Art 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)<\/a>, but this is only meaningful to the extent that it is reflected in Australian domestic law&#8221;<\/p>\n<cite>&#8211; Dr Gordon Hughes AM, Principal lawyer, Davies Collison Cave Law<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The ICCPR has not been adopted into Australian domestic law as such, but it did provide a mechanism whereby the Federal Government could rely upon the external affairs power in s 51(xxix) of the Constitution to enact the <a href=\"https:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com.au\/legal\/posts\/privacy-act-1988-explained\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Privacy Act 1988<\/a> (Cth).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The end result is that the extent to which \u2018privacy\u2019 is recognised under Australian law at national level is as set out in the Privacy Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Putting the COVIDSafe app under a microscope<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before considering how the&nbsp;<em>Privacy&nbsp;<\/em><em>Act&nbsp;<\/em>may&nbsp;serve to constrain the&nbsp;government\u2019s&nbsp;rollout of a contact tracing&nbsp;app, it is necessary to identify what concerns have been raised by the public. Essentially, these concerns fall into one or more of four&nbsp;categories:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Where will the information be stored?<\/strong>&nbsp;Is a central database vulnerable to malicious attacks and information theft, particularly if held outside Australia?&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How will the information be used?<\/strong>&nbsp;Sceptics have expressed concern over the prospect&nbsp;of \u201dscope&nbsp;creep\u201d, meaning that the government or law enforcement agencies might utilise the information gathered from the app for purposes other than the fight against COVID-19.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How long will the information be retained?<\/strong>&nbsp;The longer that the information is retained, the more susceptible it is to unauthorised access or to use out of context.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How long will the scheme run?&nbsp;<\/strong>Should there be a sunset date, limiting the lifespan of the program so as to minimise the likelihood of the data being used for other purposes?&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Relevant Australian&nbsp;Privacy Principles&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Privacy rights recognised by the&nbsp;<em>Privacy&nbsp;<\/em>Act&nbsp;are essentially enshrined in the 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)&nbsp;as contained in Sch 1 of the&nbsp;Act.&nbsp;Not all of the APPs are of direct&nbsp;or significant&nbsp;relevance to the&nbsp;COVIDSafe&nbsp;debate, but provisions&nbsp;of&nbsp;particular&nbsp;relevance are as follows:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>APP&nbsp;3 \u2013&nbsp;personal&nbsp;information must be collected only by lawful and fair means;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>APP&nbsp;5 \u2013 at or before the time of collection of their personal data, individuals must be advised, inter alia, as to the legal basis of collection and the purpose of collection;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>APP&nbsp;6 \u2013 personal information may only be used in connection with the primary purpose of collection or a reasonably related secondary purpose;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>APP&nbsp;8 \u2013 restrictions are imposed on the ability&nbsp;to disclose personal information to an overseas recipient;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>APP&nbsp;11.1 \u2013 personal information must be protected from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>APP&nbsp;11.2 \u2013 personal information&nbsp;must&nbsp;not be&nbsp;kept longer than required in connection with the original purpose of collection, unless otherwise provide by law.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key features of&nbsp;COVIDSafe&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;launch of&nbsp;COVIDSafe&nbsp;on&nbsp;26 April 2020&nbsp;was accompanied by&nbsp;the&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.au\/Details\/F2020L00480\">Biosecurity (Human Biosecurity Emergency) (Human Coronavirus with Pandemic Potential) (Emergency Requirements \u2013 Public Health Contact Information) Determination 2020<\/a>&nbsp;<\/em>(the&nbsp;Determination), together with&nbsp;a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.gov.au\/using-our-websites\/privacy\/privacy-policy-for-covidsafe-app\">COVIDSafe&nbsp;Privacy Policy<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Determination was&nbsp;made on 25 April 2020,&nbsp;pursuant to&nbsp;the&nbsp;earlier&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.au\/Details\/F2020L00266\">Biosecurity (Human Biosecurity Emergency) (Human Coronavirus with Pandemic Potential) Declaration 2020<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;of&nbsp;18 March,&nbsp;under s 475 of the&nbsp;<em>Biosecurity Act 2015<\/em>&nbsp;(Cth).&nbsp;A determination of this nature overrides inconsistent provisions in other Commonwealth&nbsp;legislation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Legal&nbsp;features of the&nbsp;scheme&nbsp;include:&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>the purpose of collection is&nbsp;confined to contact tracing as defined&nbsp;in&nbsp;s 6(2) of&nbsp;the Determination&nbsp;or, in the words of the Privacy Policy,&nbsp;\u201cto help conduct contact tracing when you register for, use or upload, data to&nbsp;COVIDSafe\u201d;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>s&nbsp;9 of the Determination states that&nbsp;the use of the app is&nbsp;\u201ccompletely voluntary\u201d, with coercion to download the app expressly prohibited;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>all registration information will be stored in a cloud-based&nbsp;data storage&nbsp;facility, using infrastructure&nbsp;located&nbsp;in&nbsp;Australia with appropriate security&nbsp;(Determination, s 7(3));&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>contact data will be deleted&nbsp;on a rolling 21-day basis&nbsp;(Determination, s 7(2));&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>all data will, in the words of the Privacy Policy,&nbsp;be deleted \u201cafter the COVID-19 pandemic has concluded as required by the&nbsp;Biosecurity&nbsp;Determination\u201d&nbsp;(see also Determination, s 7(5));&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>personal information will be used to enable contact tracing by health&nbsp;officials;&nbsp;this will include using a person\u2019s mobile&nbsp;number&nbsp;to send an SMS, using encrypted IDs&nbsp;(decryption is prohibited by s 8 of the Determination),&nbsp;to&nbsp;alert&nbsp;other&nbsp;COVIDSafe&nbsp;users that a positive&nbsp;COVIDSafe&nbsp;user&nbsp;had contact with them in the past 21 days and providing health officials with access to&nbsp;registration&nbsp;information to enable&nbsp;contact&nbsp;tracing, but not for any other purpose;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>information&nbsp;can&nbsp;be deleted upon request;&nbsp;contact information stored on a person\u2019s phone will be deleted&nbsp;upon&nbsp;de-installation&nbsp;of the app.&nbsp;De-installation will not automatically delete information already&nbsp;located in the data store and a separate request will be required&nbsp;in that regard.&nbsp;This is emphasised in the Privacy Policy, not in the Determination.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Privacy strengths and weaknesses of the surveillance app&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>From a privacy perspective, the contact tracing app has its strengths and weaknesses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;On the positive side, the privacy policy addresses the key privacy issues presently prescribed by law&nbsp;and embedded in the APPs:&nbsp;participation is voluntary;&nbsp;information can be deleted upon request; the purpose of collection&nbsp;and the scope of use&nbsp;is clear;&nbsp;the information will&nbsp;be stored securely and will&nbsp;not be transmitted overseas&#8221;<\/p>\n<cite>&#8211; Dr Gordon Hughes AM, Principal lawyer, Davies Collison Cave Law<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>However, this may not be sufficient to convince a sceptical public. In this regard, there are four issues of ongoing concern:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Biosecurity concerns&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the law as it presently stands, the ability remains for&nbsp;Australian law enforcement agencies to access data stored under the&nbsp;<em>Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979<\/em>&nbsp;(Cth) (see Sch 5 \u2013 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation of the&nbsp;<em>Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018&nbsp;<\/em>(Cth). It is stated in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Determination that the Determination \u201conly allows\u201d for data to be used by law enforcement agencies for the purpose of prosecuting breaches of s 479 of the&nbsp;<em>Biosecurity Act&nbsp;<\/em>and, whilst this is correct, the Determination does not otherwise expressly prohibit use by law enforcement agencies in other circumstances.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Unease about data hosting&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There is also an ability of US law enforcement agencies to access information stored on US servers (see the&nbsp;<em>USA Patriot Act&nbsp;<\/em>of 2001, and more recently the US&nbsp;<em>CLOUD Act<\/em>&nbsp;of 2018). In this regard, there is concern over the fact that Amazon Web Services will host the data. The fact that the data will be hosted in Australia provides insufficient comfort to some, although the threat is probably more illusory than real. APP 6.2(b) permits the disclosure of personal information under an \u201cAustralian law\u201d but does not expressly authorise disclosure pursuant to a foreign law in circumstances where the data storage is otherwise subject to Australian law.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. No end-game in sight&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There is no sunset clause. In one sense, this would be superfluous,&nbsp;given that the scheme is said to be of finite duration, terminating \u201cwhen the COVID-19 pandemic has concluded\u201d.&nbsp;Sceptics are, however, concerned about potential&nbsp;imprecision over what will constitute the \u201cconclusion\u201d of the pandemic.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Secrecy over the source code&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The source code of the app had not been released when the app was launched. A number of privacy experts have expressed the view that without access to the source code, they are unable to satisfy themselves that the app is as secure as claimed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Underpinning all these concerns is the question of consent. At present the scheme is voluntary. The government has a target of a 40% take-up in order to ensure the&nbsp;data is meaningful.&nbsp;Within&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-coronavirus-australia\/more-than-two-million-australians-download-covid-19-app-testing-expands-idUSKCN22902G\">24 hours of launch,&nbsp;2 million people had&nbsp;downloaded the&nbsp;app<\/a>.&nbsp;Some are haunted by the Prime Minister\u2019s words on 17&nbsp;April 2020 that he would&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ladbible.com\/news\/technology-it-could-soon-be-mandatory-to-download-app-that-tracks-your-movements-20200417\">\u201cnot entirely rule out\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;making the&nbsp;app mandatory if take-up was insufficient.&nbsp;The following day, the Prime Minister nevertheless did rule out making&nbsp;use of the app&nbsp;mandatory.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Victorian Information Commissioner, Sven&nbsp;Bluemmel, believes&nbsp;that &nbsp;the&nbsp;app will be successful if enough Australians will choose to download it, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.innovationaus.com\/trust-is-key-for-contact-tracing-vic-privacy\/\">simply comes down to&nbsp;trust<\/a>. Certainly, if the government\u2019s use of the app \u2013 and information collected using the app \u2013 is restricted in the manner stated at the launch, then privacy concerns have on balance been adequately addressed.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For what it\u2019s worth:&nbsp;the author of this article has downloaded&nbsp;the app.<em>&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The launch of COVIDSafe continues to raise concerns about privacy issues and cyber security. Should you or your clients download it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":2574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1319,625],"tags":[146,1340,1341,1258,177,179,181],"insight_job_role":[569,1315,628],"insight_practice_area":[584],"class_list":["entry","author-drhughes","has-excerpt","post-2573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-data-privacy","category-research-and-know-how","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-covidsafe","tag-cyber-security","tag-data-breaches","tag-data-privacy","tag-data-security","insight_job_role-academic","insight_job_role-barrister","insight_job_role-solicitor","insight_practice_area-criminal-law","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Should You Download COVIDSafe? 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