Australia's Spy Agencies Caught Collecting COVID-19 App Data

Australia's intelligence agencies have been caught "incidentally" collecting data from the country's COVIDSafe contact tracing app during the first six months of its launch, a government watchdog has found. From a report: The report, published Monday by the Australian government's inspector general for the intelligence community, which oversees the government's spy and eavesdropping agencies, said the app data was scooped up "in the course of the lawful collection of other data." But the watchdog said that there was "no evidence" that any agency "decrypted, accessed or used any COVID app data." Incidental collection is a common term used by spies to describe the data that was not deliberately targeted but collected as part of a wider collection effort. This kind of collection isn't accidental, but more of a consequence of when spy agencies tap into fiber optic cables, for example, which carries an enormous firehose of data. An Australian government spokesperson told one outlet, which first reported the news, that incidental collection can also happen as a result of the "execution of warrants."

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

What did you expect ?

[Alain Williams]

That is what spy agencies do.

"no evidence" that any agency "decrypted, accessed or used any COVID app data."

Absence of evidence is not evidence that it did not happen. The result of this is that people will be less inclined to use the COVID apps - which means that more people will get ill and some may die.

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[arglebargle_xiv]

Yet another nail in the Covid tracing app coffin, despite them bending over backwards to try and preserve anonymity to the point where it's a complete pain in the arse to use, this latest tidbit will mean even more people will try and avoid using it.

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[Rosco P. Coltrane]

There is no evidence of the contrary either.

If another Snowden comes up and spills the beans, we'll all be shocked and dismayed that our trust in those apps designed for the public good was abused. Or not.

Me, I err on the safe side and I don't allow any contact tracing on my phone. I'll deal with COVID-19 with common sense and due diligence wearing masks and respecting social distances, but there's no way I'll let unaccountable Big Data companies and their 3-letter governmental agencies buddies track me.

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[brunes69]

The Australian app is the exception, not the rule.

Most countries COVID apps

- Are open source

- Are using the Apple/Google approved API, which is all based on random Bluetooth tokens, and has no way to be correlated to you even if the government WANTED to do it, its entirely impossible.

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[ShanghaiBill]

If the token can't be linked to you, then how are you informed if you are exposed to Covid?

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

DOES NOT use the Apple/Google COVID solution

[brunes69]

Important to note, Australia's app DOES NOT use the Apple/Google approved COVID tracing solution, which has privacy baked in by design - apps using that API, the government has literally no way to trace you even if they want.

And, hence the entire source of this problem.

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[brunes69]

The API is entirely open and widely documented and has been audited extensively by organizations worldwide. Go read how it works for yourself.

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[brunes69]

Wrong, ACTUALLY most of the COVID apps are 100% open source and do not do any such thing, but whatever.

If you have examples of *SPECIFIC* COVID apps to avoid with evidence, then please share, otherwise this is just fear mongering.

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[s4080326]

Important to note, Australia's app DOES NOT use the Apple/Google approved COVID tracing solution, which has privacy baked in by design - apps using that API, the government has literally no way to trace you even if they want.

And, hence the entire source of this problem.

Yes but the Australian version errs so much on the side of privacy that it has no way to trace you even if you want them to.

tap into fiber optic cables

[Big Bipper]

If you can "tap into fiber optic cables" it only makes sense that you tap into the biggest, highest capacity ones you can, so effectively ALL data are captured incidentally. That there was "no evidence" that any agency "decrypted" the data also implies that they would have had no trouble decrypting it if they had wanted to. And considering that they also store all the data they capture, they can decrypt it anytime in the future if they want to. Also don't forget that Australia is one of the Five Eyes, so all of the captured data is also stored in Amerika where all of the three letter agencies can decrypt and snoop to their hearts content, without Australian oversight.

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[rtb61]

The only really sound way to screw up the anal retentive control freaks in the spy agencies is to feed false information into the system and contaminate their databases and empty heads, literally have the Elmers chasing down empty rabbit hole after empty rabbit hole. Their tiny genitalia gets really excited and the perception of power over others by spying on them, the egos of third raters.

And gone is contact tracing

[thrill12]

This one "slip up" will make sure 90% deinstalls the app, contact tracing is harmed, and Australia could face - as Biden puts it - a dark winter...erm summer. Good work guys: in being tasked to get intelligence to protect and safeguard your countries' interests, you fucked up and instead increased the death toll of COVID-19 in your country. Wow...

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[aberglas]

The app was actually a failure. Very little useful information was gleaned from it.

But common sense measures worked to suppress the first wave.

And then paranoid responses killed the second wave, as well as parts of the economy.

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[s4080326]

The economy was dead anyway, People have this idea that if you remove restrictions everything just snaps back to how it was but that is just a fantasy.

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[Toojays]

Actually the app has never had a big enough install base for it to be useful for contact tracing. Our contact tracing is happening the old-fashioned way - by humans phoning each other. This is working pretty well, although there is the curious case of South Australia going into lockdown because they thought you might be able to catch COVID from pizza: https://www.abc.net.au/news/20... [abc.net.au] Thankfully as new facts to light the South Australian govt is sharing them and correcting course accordingly.

Dutton's a pryck

[bigtreeman]

Yeah, Fork Dutton, he is the creepiest pryck.
A master of Newspeak, black is white, yes is no and no comment is no comment.
He feels he is entitled to do whatever the fork he wants no matter what the laws and regulations are.

Slashdot is lefty cringe and will apologize this

[Kaex]

Slashdot is finished Comments will appear to be surprised this happened Comment will gaslight any centrists that have been warning about this shit for years Comments will accuse any dissenting opinion as being far right extremist even though they are classical liberals Seriously this place.