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One of the big challenges for the #COVIDsafe tracing app (as hinted at in the below piece) is that the Federal Government has a rotten track record with data, privacy and trust. 1/10 https://vcoss.org.au/analysis/smartphone-tracing-do-it-right/
With, #CensusFail they couldn't collect the data properly.
Nobody was hurt, but it was a monumental IT flop in primetime.
It looked like amateur hour. 2/10 https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/australias-2016-census-had-significant-and-obvious-oversights-report-finds/news-story/6edcf8f897b2361965bd72683ee6edbe
Nobody was hurt, but it was a monumental IT flop in primetime.
It looked like amateur hour. 2/10 https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/australias-2016-census-had-significant-and-obvious-oversights-report-finds/news-story/6edcf8f897b2361965bd72683ee6edbe
With, #Robodebt they failed to use data fairly, zealously issuing bogus debts to income support recipients (including dead people) even after victims and experts starting sounding the alarm. 3/10 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-29/centrelink-robodebt-raised-against-dead-disability-pensioner/11342994
The Government also released blogger Andie Fox’s personal data to a newspaper as part of a political counterpunch, after she publicly criticised Robodebt—a scheme that has now been deemed unlawful. 4/10 https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/as-a-struggling-single-mother-centrelink-terrorised-me-over-expartners-debt-20170206-gu61nu.html
(Side note: the Federal Government was actually later cleared of any wrongdoing in that case, which actually makes matters... heaps worse?!) 5/10 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-31/privacy-precedent-what-can-the-government-reveal-about-us/9816700
Then there is this hideous word-salad: NBN, data-retention, MyHealthRecord, internet filtering (Net Nanny), MyGov, data encryption…
Oh, and that infamous raid on @annikasmethurst’s house after she reported moves towards domestic spying. 6/10 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jun/04/federal-police-raid-home-of-news-corp-journalist-annika-smethurst
Oh, and that infamous raid on @annikasmethurst’s house after she reported moves towards domestic spying. 6/10 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jun/04/federal-police-raid-home-of-news-corp-journalist-annika-smethurst
The bottom line is this: many Australians just don’t trust the Federal Government with their personal data.
Facebook and Google? Sure, if they must.
But the Commonwealth? Not so much. 7/10
Facebook and Google? Sure, if they must.
But the Commonwealth? Not so much. 7/10
Now we have health officials urging people use the #COVIDSafe app, and the government forced to open and shut the toilet door really fast; the stench of its failures clogging the air as it tries to convince people its new tracing app is safe and their data won’t be abused. 8/10
Rightly or wrongly, I personally believe that's where we're at.
This might not be fair, and every example listed above might be explicable and justifiable in isolation (though I doubt it), but the cumulative effect is undeniable and has been corrosive. 9/10
This might not be fair, and every example listed above might be explicable and justifiable in isolation (though I doubt it), but the cumulative effect is undeniable and has been corrosive. 9/10
Final thought… in a parallel universe, a majority of Australians would trust the Federal Government to collect and respect their personal data during a deadly global pandemic—because the Federal Government would have worked hard to earn that trust. 10/10
It turns out before I even wrote this thread, @joshgnosis had distilled very similar sentiments into a news story.
Much better and more coherent: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/26/coronavirus-app-will-australians-trust-a-government-with-a-history-of-tech-fails-and-data-breaches
Much better and more coherent: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/26/coronavirus-app-will-australians-trust-a-government-with-a-history-of-tech-fails-and-data-breaches
