Read on Twitter
As much as I'd like to I haven't had time to get into this #covid19australia tracing app story. But here's the bottom line (in my opinion): at this point it can be chalked up as another government health and technology failure for one critical reason: trust.
Even when they're busting a gut to seem trustworthy they just can't do it. They've spent weeks saying source code would be released (at least in some form) yet failed to do so. This still stands: https://twitter.com/drzax/status/1252441125681422337
They've also spent weeks drip feeding us with poorly thought out ideas filled with incorrect use of technical jargon and repeatedly walked back or modified previous announcements in highly consequential ways.
The app as released today only adds to the trust issues. This is instructive. https://twitter.com/FadAstra/status/1254239629651275777
I've spoken to epidemiologists who are wondering about the utility of the system since all the standard contact tracing will still need to happen and does a pretty good job. In addition, there appears to be little evidence it's been useful elsewhere.
As I said, this is fairly unstudied opinion at this point, but if you want some good clear analysis you could do much worse than starting here: https://twitter.com/stilgherrian/status/1254222837935529984
Just to reiterate — even when the government is trying their damned hardest to seem trustworthy, they can't manage it. And there's little more important about this whole situation than trust.
Finally, you should also follow @SalingerPrivacy @VTeagueAus @joshgnosis @bengrubb & @arielbogle — they will have better opinions & reporting on this than most.
Also throw @MsLods on your list of #covidsafe follows for the tech/law/privacy angles https://twitter.com/MsLods/status/1254283042354413569
