Australia’s COVIDSafe contact-tracing app increases chances of third-party tracking

[Stopspying]

Content source

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/28/covidsafe_analysis/

"The design of Australia’s COVIDSafe contact-tracing app creates some unintended surveillance opportunities, according to a group of four security pros who unpacked its .APK file.

Penned by independent security researcher Chris Culnane, University of Melbourne tutor, cryptography researcher and masters student Eleanor McMurtry, developer Robert Merkel and Australian National University associate professor and Thinking Security CEO Vanessa Teague and posted to GitHub, the analysis notes three concerning design choices."

Australian contact-tracing app leaks telling info and increases chances of third-party tracking, say security folks

Phone model recorded, unique ID infrequently refreshed – but Atlassian's Mike Cannnon-Brookes says use it and two million peeps agree

www.theregister.co.uk

 

[Cortex]

Not sure about this but the UK & Germany want to use a different system to the Oz one, not sure if I will install any app

 

[Stopspying]

Not sure about this but the UK & Germany want to use a different system to the Oz one, not sure if I will install any app

I'm not going to install the UK one. It seems like it will only work fully if you leave the app running full time with bluetooth on, a severe drain on power and a security hazard. These apps all seem like yet more digital tracking devices for governments than useful tools for the individuals who install them. The UK Health Minister - Matt Hancock likes to think he's digital savvy, he released some sort of social media app which proved to be a privacy nightmare - What a Hancock-up: MP's social network app is a privacy disaster

With that sort of track record, plus his role as fall guy for the UK governments Covid-19 policies I will steer well clear of anything he promotes.

I get that there can be very useful reasons for knowing if we've been in contact with people with Covid-19, or are just carriers of it, but the tracking nature of the apps put me off. This is already the country with the most CCTV/per person.