Coronavirus: ‘fearmongering’ claim as cyber experts say app safe

The nation’s top cyber experts have backed the security of the coronavirus app after an independent review found it cannot be hacked.

Minister Greg Hunt told The Australian the uptake of the app would be a key factor in the national cabinet’s decision on how quickly to proceed with the gradual restoration of freedoms for Australians. Picture: AAP

The nation’s top cyber experts have backed the security of the coronavirus app after an independent review found it cannot be hacked, as the federal government seeks to encourage millions more Australians to download COVIDSafe ahead of a national cabinet meeting on Friday when significant easing of social controls will be on the table.

COVIDSafe in the app store. Picture: AAP

As of Sunday night, more than 4.3 million Australians had downloaded the app, with the federal government hoping to secure at least a further two million registrations ahead of the next meeting between Scott Morrison and the state and territory leaders on Friday. Health Minister Greg Hunt told The Australian the uptake of the app would be a key factor in the national cabinet’s decision on how quickly to proceed with the gradual restoration of freedoms for Australians.

“Australians are doing a great job in all aspects of responding to the COVID-19 crisis,” he said.

“In particular we are more than a week ahead of where we had hoped to be on downloads of the app with over 4.3 million registrations to date.

“This has helped bring forward national cabinet consideration of easing restrictions by a week.”

Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy at the press conference launch of CovidSafe at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: AAP

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said the more people who installed the contact-tracing tool, “the more bold” the government would be in easing restrictions.

Dr Murphy said on Sunday that while the nation was in a better position than most other countries, it needed to be careful to avoid a second wave of coronavirus cases.

On Sunday, the preliminary findings of a security review into the COVIDSafe app were released, with a team of 17 of the nation’s top cyber experts determining that it could not be hacked, nor the data misused.

CEO of the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre Rachael Falk has told The Australian the findings of the independent review into the source code confirmed that it was secure and could only be used for blunt data and was more limited than the information held by social media platforms.

“Some would have us believe the introduction of the COVIDSafe app signals our nation’s slide into a totalitarian state — citizens tracked by government, their data gathered, their privacy lost,” Ms Falk said. “But, to put it bluntly, such assertions are nothing but fearmongering.”

Writing exclusively in The Australian on Monday, Ms Falk said the app was not capable of being used for surveillance and no metadata would be retained.

“COVIDSafe is a public health app. It is about saving lives, not about surveillance,” Ms Falk said.

Australian Hotels Association chief executive Stephen Ferguson said on Sunday that while hotels couldn’t refuse entry to someone for failing to use the app, they were strongly advocating for its download. “Our intention is to have signage inside and outside of venues that encourage all our members to download the app,” he said.

Restaurant and Catering Association chief Wes Lambert said the app was “the fastest way for the business community, especially the hospitality and tourism community, to get back off the ground and get rolling again”.

“Businesses have the right to check if patrons have the COVIDSafe app, in a similar way to checking patrons’ IDs for age.

“If the customer doesn’t have the COVIDSafe app, we urge businesses to keep a record of patrons — just as you would normally have when you make a booking for a restaurant.”