In 2020, governments and policymakers across the world moved with lightning speed to implement measures to protect their communities.
The WA government shut borders, called snap lockdowns and managed the coronavirus risk as the community re-emerged to a 'new normal'.
There were not many certainties as the pandemic unfolded and government strategy relied heavily on the goodwill and trust of the public.
But as it introduced the SafeWA mandatory contact tracing system, the government assured privacy would be protected — or so we all thought.
Loading
"Data will be encrypted at the point of capture, stored securely and only be accessible by authorised Department of Health contact tracing personnel, should COVID-19 contact tracing be necessary," a Facebook post from Premier Mark McGowan assured the public at the time.
But it was revealed this week that was not the case for 2,443 check-ins logged during the first few weeks of the mandatory system.
Police accessed data for murder investigation
WA Police had issued the Health Department with two separate warrants for the check-in data of mainly potential witnesses to two high-profile criminal cases, including the murder of former Rebels bikie boss Nick Martin.
It prompted the state government to introduce and pass urgent legislation this week to close the loophole, putting the "data ... beyond arm's length" of police, the Corruption and Crime Commission, and even private citizens through Freedom of Information requests.
Source: Facebook
)Government 'not perfect', says McGowan
Mr McGowan admitted it was an oversight in the check-in system, which had been "put in very quickly", and that essentially left a gaping hole in the protection of the data.
When asked to admit responsibility for the bungle, Mr McGowan conceded the government was "not perfect" and had managed "hundreds upon hundreds" of issues relating to COVID-19.
But the question must now be asked: Has this oversight resulted in the public's trust of the government being lessened, at a time when it has never been more important?
'Privacy breaches won't deter app use'
Health Minister Roger Cook was asked this week why the public should have faith in the new data protections, given that assurance had already been made.
"Those commitments were made in good faith and I think people accept that we are continuing to [introduce] extra measures each day looking at how we can better respond to the COVID-19 pandemic," Mr Cook said.
Mr McGowan also does not agree it would turn people off the check-in system, one of WA's most important COVID-19 management tools.
"I think people understand that on two occasions out of 245 million uses of the app, it's a very small number of cases and it was only in the most exceptional of circumstances," he said.
ABC News: Eliza Laschon
)But the WA Opposition categorised the oversight as a major breach of the public's goodwill towards COVID-19 management measures.
"The state government has essentially broken their pact with the WA community, and I think it will make it more difficult for us to ask people to sign in, to manage that very important contact tracing job," WA Nationals leader Mia Davies said.
Check-ins so far unaffected
SafeWA figures for the days following the revelation showed no significant change to the number of regular check-ins across the state each day, so in the short-term it does not appear to have significantly turned people off.
But the revelations about the use of SafeWA app data prompted questions to be asked about another important COVID-19 management tool.
And this time, the government was entirely on board with its use.
Police revealed they had accessed information gathered by the COVID-19 travel G2G pass in their investigations into more than a dozen criminal cases including murder, drug offences, property laundering and a breach of a violence restraining order.
ABC News: Hugh Sando
)The pass continues to be required to enter the state.
G2G protecting the community, McGowan says
Mr McGowan argued the G2G app was different, because it was "voluntary".
"It's a voluntary system and it's managed by Western Australian police, so they currently get the information that comes in via G2G."
"[It] allows them to know who is coming in, whether or not they have convictions, they're a convicted murderer, they're a drug dealer, they're a heroin trafficker, all of those sorts of things.
The system is voluntary only in that people can choose not to travel into the state, or between intrastate regions.
And again, the WA Opposition raised red flags.
ABC News: Herlyn Kaur
)"I think people in good faith have provided information so that we can better manage as a state our COVID response and then we've found out that ... data is being used for other purposes," Ms Davies said.
"Anything that undermines that I think is a breach of trust."
Under the current state of emergency, police have been granted wide-ranging powers.
This week it emerged police are using those powers to fight crimes unrelated to the pandemic — something many concerned with government overreach and civil liberties have long feared.
How much liberty the McGowan Government grants police during these extraordinary times may well become an important measure of the premier's leadership, as he balances that with a long-term request for public goodwill and trust.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiWGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIxLTA2LTE5L3dhLXNhZmV3YS1nb3Zlcm5tZW50LW92ZXJzaWdodC1hbmFseXNpcy8xMDAyMjc5MjjSAShodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTAwMjI3OTI4?oc=5
2021-06-18 22:18:52Z
CAIiEOiE-QxS0uo_U8q6V8C9rJsqFggEKg4IACoGCAow3vI9MPeaCDDtiw4
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Check-ins to SafeWA app unaffected after WA Police accessed data as part of criminal investigations - ABC News"
Post a Comment