Coronavirus tracking app that holds the key to ending lockdown gets off to a flying start with record downloads - but some users are told they have been INFECTED with the deadly bug without even being tested
- Australian Government launched its coronavirus tracking app on Sunday night
- But it has a design flaw where users unknowingly are told they have coronavirus
- Clicking most obvious 'upload my information' button tells users they're positive
- Users said they had a 'moment or terror' when the message hit their screen
- Apps has also been plagued by technical errors that stop users from registering
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Early figures on downloads of the government's new coronavirus tracking app suggest the hoped-for numbers can be achieved, despite some technical and design flaws.
CovidSafe went live at 6pm on Sunday and has now been downloaded a million times, in a promising start as many Australians accepted the government's campaign to use the app as a prerequisite to swiftly end strict lockdown measures.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison had said 40 per cent of the population needed to install the app for it to be effective.
The app uses Bluetooth technology to track users who come in close contact with people who have tested positive to COVID-19.
Early figures on downloads of the government's new coronavirus tracking app suggest the hoped-for numbers can be achieved, despite some technical and design flaws (stock)
Many Australians were horrified and confused when they were confronted with a screen telling them they had tested positive to coronavirus
Some people who tried to download the app reported there were issues getting confirmation emails, in having their phone numbers recognised, and that the app ceased sending a Bluetooth signal when the phone went into low power mode.
Others were alarmed and confused by a message telling them that they had contracted coronavirus, despite not being tested.
'You have tested positive for COVID-19,' the message read.
'Unless you consent, your contact information will not be uploaded.
'If you consent, your contact information will be uploaded and shared with State or Territory health officials for contact tracing purposes.'
The message flashes up if the user hits the button which ways 'Upload my Information' on the home screen of the app.
However that button is below text which reads 'Has a health worker asked you to upload your information?' and should only be pressed if the user has actually been diagnosed with coronavirus.
Spokesman for Government Services Minister Stuart Robert said that message was not a flaw, and the app was working as intended.
'You don't upload if you haven't tested positive, that's the whole point of the app,' they told Daily Mail Australia.
'You're only supposed to push that button if you've been asked to by a health official if you've tested positive.'
However, users said they were concerned at receiving the alarming message after having mistakenly pressed the 'Upload my Information' button.
'There was a split second of panic before I realised I hadn't even been tested and couldn't be sick,' one alarmed user said.
The button is below text reading 'has a health worker asked you to upload your information?' and is the most obvious call to action on the front page of the app
Another shocked user said that feature of the app could have been designed better.
'Nowhere does it say "click if you've been diagnosed with coronavirus" or "have you tested positive for COVID-19?",' they said.
'Even a first-year computer science student could have worked that out.'
Once a user agrees to share their information they are required to input a code given to them by the health official to continue the process.
CovidSafe went live at 6pm on Sunday and has been downloaded 500,000 times as Australians hope to further flatten the infection curve
A survey by Newspoll indicated the government was likely to get the requisite 40 percent of the population downloading the app.
The survey showed 54 per cent of respondents intended to sign up against 39 per cent who vowed they would not, chiefly on privacy grounds.
'Australians will rise to the challenge because they have risen to the challenge of distancing, they have risen to the challenged of testing,' chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said.
If the 54 per cent download rate is borne out in coming days, it would give the Australian app a far higher acceptance than similar apps used overseas, where numbers had not risen above a quarter of the population.
Part of that acceptance could stem from government assurance about privacy provisions, with collected data only able to be accessed by health professionals and will not be made available to police or intelligence services.
For those who never test positive, all tracing data more than three weeks old will be automatically deleted.
The Project's Tommy Little DEMANDS Australians download coronavirus tracing app in rant on live TV
Comedian Tommy Little told Australians to hurry up and download a government tracking app to their mobile phones so he can get back to playing sport.
The cheeky funnyman unleashed a rant on The Project to encourage the public to embrace the coronavirus tracing app as 500,000 people rushed to download the tracker on Sunday.
'I am the person that if ever someone tells me to do something, I say no,' he said.
'But I'm so sick of talking about this virus, I'm sick of people not being able to leave their homes, and if the one thing you do - if you don't do anything else in your day today - just download this app.
'It's gonna make it so much easier for us to live our normal lives quicker.
'I'm sick of not playing sport, sick of not watching sport, just – download the freaking app, people.'
The CovidSafe app was launched at 3pm but there was a three-hour delay until registrations opened at 6pm, which confused some people who then left scathing one-star reviews
The CovidSafe app uses encrypted data
The Government wants 40 per cent of Australians to use the CovidSafe app so there is enough coverage for it to be effective.
Health officials say widespread use of the app would help to ease the lockdown restrictions.
The app is designed to speed up coronavirus contact tracing.
Users who have been within 1.5 metres of someone who has the virus will be recorded using bluetooth, helping the authorities in the laborious process of contact tracing.
The app uses anonymous IDs from anyone you are within 1.5 metres of, for about 15 minutes or more - if they also have the app.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday that the data would not be used for any other purpose than coronavirus tracing.
'It assists in the early alert and finding of people who may have been in contact with a person that is positive with the diagnosis,' he said in a televised address to the nation.
Tommy Little encouraged people to stay home but now he is tired of restrictions and hopes that if everyone downloads the CovidSafe app he can play sport again
Perth protesters hold signs on Saturday as they are tired of lockdown restrictions. Health authorities have said the CovidSafe app may help them lift the restrictions
Privacy concerns have been an issue for many people who don't like the idea of the government using their mobile phones to track them.
Mr Hunt addressed those privacy concerns on Sunday, saying the data was encrypted and that nobody had access to it other than public health officials for the limited purpose of coronavirus contact tracing only.
He said there was no geolocation, that courts would be prohibited from accessing the data, that the information had to be kept on servers located in Australia and that it would be deleted once the pandemic was over.
Those who are diagnosed are asked permission a second time to consent to release the data from their phones.
The app was released at 3pm with registration opening at 6pm.
It was an instant hit with more than 500,000 Australians downloading the app by Sunday night, a Health Department spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
Many people downloaded the free tracker when it hit the app stores at 3pm but did not realise they had to wait until 6pm to register.
This resulted in confusion when their registration would not work, resulting in a number of one-star reviews on the Android app site.
'It won't send me a PIN code, therefore does not work,' wrote Brett Vogler.
'It said try again later or invalid phone number.'
Police talk to a man in Kings Cross, Sydney, on Anzac Day as they enforce lockdown rules
Others told the one-star brigade to wait and countered with five-star reviews.
'Hold off with the harsh one star reviews people,' wrote Aaron Aardvark.
'It won't take your phone number until after 6pm ... show some patience.'
Australia had 6,714 coronavirus cases as of Sunday night, with 83 deaths, 1,086 active cases and 5,541 patients fully recovered.
Worldwide as of Sunday night there were 2,940,059 coronavirus cases with 203,803 deaths 1,894,505 active cases and 841,751 patients recovered according to the Worldometer coronavirus statistics tracker.
The USA still has the highest number of overall cases at 960,896 confirmed infections with 54,265 deaths.
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2020-04-26 21:08:54Z
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