Western Australia rushes out legislation after cops access contact-tracing data to investigate serious crimes
- Reference: 1623762305
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/15/western_australia_contact_tracing_law/
- Source link:
The app collecting the data, [1]SafeWA , is free, mandatory, and has been used over 245 million times for people to register their presence at relevant venues in WA. The description for the app says the data is encrypted and stored for 28 days. The description also makes the following two assertions:
Attendance data is recorded solely for the purposes of contact tracing, should it be required by WA Health
Records are only accessible to authorised WA Health contact-tracing personnel should a positive COVID-19 case be identified
But apparently this was not true as police legally issued notices for businesses to hand over the data to investigate not one, but two separate crimes – a murder case and a stabbing case.
The government of WA said in a [2]canned statement :
The system was introduced in the middle of the global pandemic and while access to this information was lawful, the WA Government's intention was for contact registers to only be used for contact tracing purposes.
Parliament has now introduced legislation, The Protection of Information (Entry Registration Information Relating to COVID-19 and Other Infectious Diseases) Bill 2021, to limit the use of the app and its subsequent data to infectious disease contact-tracing purposes only. The bill also mandates data storage and disposal requirements with fines for businesses and organisations who do not follow guidelines.
"Because it is so important to maintain community confidence in SafeWA, we've come down in favour of nobody," said attorney-general John Quigley.
"I urge people to continue to do the right thing and check-in, and thank businesses and venues for their ongoing support," said health minister Robert Cook.
[3]
The app is not the only tracking measure WA has used in the fight against COVID-19. In the early stages of the pandemic, WA gave itself the power to [4]install surveillance devices in homes to ensure those required to isolate complied. The government also purchased GPS-equipped [5]ankle bracelets and cameras capable of recognising number plates to prevent travel across state lines. ®
Get our [6]Tech Resources
[1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.gov.wa.health.SafeWA&hl=en_SG&gl=US
[2] https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2021/06/New-Bill-to-further-protect-information-obtained-for-COVID-19-contact-tracing.aspx
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YMjOnkQNtORAtxRBaCzPOwAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/01/west_australia_isolation/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/09/australia_state_adds_ai_number/
[6] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Paper sheet
So that anyone walking by can potentially record your details….
Im shocked, shocked
obligatory shocked shocked:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi00k_ME
Not shocked
As a Western Australian I have to give the WA Government top marks for keeping Covid infection numbers near zero.
But defo not shocked by the predicted over reach.
WA gov incompetance
the WA government proved themselves incompetent when they went with a checkin that was not private
the testing rates are terrible and so it spreads and no one is aware...
They could have stood up and used this on apple and google
[1]https://covid19.apple.com/contacttracing combined with a private QR check in log that only gets sent when requested
oh I dont know much like New Zealand... so WA gov is worse than NZ ...
let that sink in...
[1] https://covid19.apple.com/contacttracing
How's that work?
"You must install this app on your SmartPhone." falls flat if the user isn't using a SmartPhone. If the previous poster was correct in that a manual listing of one's phone number on a sign in sheet is also available then I can see how it could work, albeit in a much less timely fashion.
data is encrypted and stored for 28 days
Curious... was the data grab for info older than 28 days? In which case the over-reach was always on the cards, because the transiency promise was breached too.
Fool me once...
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me.
The shocking thing is not that the government overreached. It's that people still believe the government when they promise that they won't overreach.
The Who
"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again." GWB. I miss that guy.
They were always going to stuff this up. App deleted. I'll put my phone number on the paper sheet at each venue if I remember.