Mobile tracking app the next step to curb coronavirus spread

Australians will soon be asked to download a mobile app which alerts them to whether they’ve been in contact with someone infected with coronavirus.

The app will use bluetooth to trace who people come into contact with, in a bid to stop the virus spread in its tracks.

For the technology to be effective, it’s estimated 40 per cent of people must download the app.

Similar technology has already been adopted in Singapore, where just 20 per cent of the population signed up for tracking app, TraceTogether, but it has reportedly been effective in curbing the spread of COVID-19.

But convincing Australians to download the app may be difficult.

Senior Lecturer in Media at Swinburne, Dr Belinda Barnet, said she has privacy concerns.

“In Australia, our government has a history of using our personal data not for the reasons that they said they’d use it for,” she told 3AW’s Ross and John.

“They have accessed it to catch journalists, for example, rather than national security.

“My concern would be: can we trust them? can we trust them with who we’ve been in contact with in addition to location?”

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