Australian Cops Spy on Covid Check-In App Despite Privacy Promises From Government
An Anonymous Coward writes:
Police is Western Australia have accessed private data from the state's covid-19 check-in app at least twice to aid in a criminal investigation, despite promises the app would only be used by contact tracers. The revelations are likely to make people think twice before using the app, a public health tool that's compulsory at all retailers, though the mandate is only loosely enforced.
Western Australia, a state of roughly 2.6 million people, launched the SafeWA app in late 2020 to make it easier for contact tracers to track down possible infections after a case of covid-19 has been identified in the community. But there were public promises made by the state government that any information collected by the app would be private.
Police defended use of the data by saying it's all in the fine print, adding that they're trying to track down witnesses to the murder of local motorcycle gang leader Nick Martin. An unnamed 34-year-old man has been arrested and charged with the murder, and the accused can't be named because of a court suppression order that's not uncommon in Australia.
https://gizmodo.com/australian-cops-spy-on-covid-check-in-app-despite-priva-1847108207
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