Coronavirus Australia: COVIDSafe App hoax texts start circulating

There could be “significant penalties” for the creators of a fake text message spreading misinformation about the government’s new contact tracing app designed to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has issued a stark warning to people thinking about spreading misinformation about the COVIDSafe app, warning there can be significant penalties for those who don’t heed the simple warning.

“Stop, think, and don't do it... anybody who is found responsible will be charged with a significant criminal offence,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

The warning came after a fake and misleading text purporting to be from the government began circulating on social media on Monday.

It didn’t take long for the Federal Government’s new COVIDSafe contact tracing app and the confusion around what it does to be exploited online by people trying to spread misinformation.

Screenshots of hoax text messages have appeared on social media playing on people’s privacy fears, telling them the app has detected they’re too far from home and need to call the myGov service to give their reason.

“The COVIDSafe app has detected you are +20km from your nominated home address. Please register your reason for travel within 15 minutes of receiving this SMS,” the fake text purportedly sent at 10.12am on Monday morning claimed.

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A screenshot of a hoax text message that has been circulating on social media.

You don’t nominate a home address when you register for the COVIDSafe App, which is also not linked to your myGov account.

You do disclose your postcode but that is supposed to be for health authorities to identify new virus clusters if there is suddenly a surge in confirmed cases within the same postcode.

You also give an approximate age range so health authorities can prioritise notifications to at-risk groups and your mobile phone number so they can call you if you’ve had contact with a confirmed case.

The Government has said the app only uses Bluetooth, which can detect approximately how far away you are from another Bluetooth device but can’t actually pinpoint your location in the world.

It’s also promised to release the source code for public scrutiny but hasn’t yet.

This has given some pause about downloading the app, but nearly 2.5 million Australians have already done it.

Mr Hunt slammed the creators of the hoax as “unAustralian” and said the fake text was illegal and would be investigated.

“Any misuse of telecommunications for a hoax is illegal,” Mr Hunt said Tuesday afternoon. “This case has already been referred to the Federal Police for investigation, and that investigation has begun, and anybody who is found responsible will be charged with a significant criminal offence,” Mr Hunt said.

“The second thing, though, is this is deeply unAustralian. At a moment when Australians have been coming together, when nearly 2.5 million Australians have downloaded and registered for the COVIDSafe app, when Australians have been doing difficult things, to have a few people, or it may just be one person, who are doing something contrary to the public health messages, this isn't a game. This is about life and death. This is about saving lives and protecting lives. And so, whoever it is, they should be afraid of the law, because they are conducting a hoax which is about a very serious public health matter,” he added, saying there was more than the law to consider.

“It's no game, because the more people that are able to download and register, the more people who will be protected against inadvertently contracting a life-threatening disease. And that's my message to those who are at odds with the rest of the community. Stop, think, and don't do it,” Mr Hunt said.

In an earlier press conference on Sunday afternoon announcing the release of the app, Mr Hunt said it was also illegal for anyone but state and territory health authorities to access the data and they could only use it for contact tracing.

Contact tracing is used to find people who may have had contact with someone infected with coronavirus so they can be told of the contact and self-isolate themselves to avoid spreading the virus further.

Prior to the app it was done manually, a laborious and slow task for health staff.

The app is supposed to make it quicker and easier to trace contacts, potentially minimising the time an infectious person can be spreading the virus without knowing and therefore reducing the total amount of cases.

Unfortunately, the word “tracing” having a close resemblance to the word “tracking” has not been helpful in combating privacy concerns.

But the Government has promised the app does not “track” you, it only collects data on how close you are to other users of the app, when, and for how long.

That data is stored on your phone until you decide to upload it to the Amazon Web Services server being used by the Government, which says the server is located in Australia, and the data can’t go overseas.

Amazon as well as other tech giants like IBM and Microsoft regularly provide servers and technology services to government in Australia and around the world.

Police and law enforcement are not supposed to be able to access the data, and the Government has said it can’t be used to prosecute a crime.

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The COVIDSafe app was made available for download on Sunday. Picture: Saeed Khan / AFP

The only other access is for the Government’s Digital Transformation Agency, otherwise known as the COVIDSafe Administrator, who can access the storage server to ensure “the proper functioning, integrity and security of COVIDSafe”, including to delete your data if you ask it to, according to the Department of Health.

It’s not clear what the point of the hoax texts are and if there is one more nefarious than just spreading misinformation and generally being a nuisance.

The listed phone number is the real myGov service line, not that you should call it based on this text anyway.

The COVIDSafe App is available to download from the iOS App Store and Google Play Store for iPhones and Android phones, but if you don’t want to download it you don’t have to.

The app is voluntary, and no one is allowed to make you download it.

Have you downloaded the COVIDSafe app? Let us know why or why not in the comments below.