No mention of Australian regions or GovCloud etc.
As far as I know none of them has a background in computer science or anything related to software development. At least a third of the group immediately said that the won't install the app exactly for the “American company Amazon’s Servers” reason.
I hadn't researched into the topic but I tried to offer an alternative explanation to why those choices were made, but I felt that nobody was even slightly interested in why it might not be as evil as they have been made to think it is.
From irresponsible journalism to untrustworthy governments with hidden agenda, there are too many things that I think lead to people making uninformed decisions. Just throwing this opinion out there because it's something that has been on my mind for a long while, and perhaps something that may resonate with someone else.
Edit: typo (explain --> offer).
I think the point I failed to point point clearly earlier is that this is the first, if not one of the firsts, pandemic where we are well-connected enough to properly attempt the tracking app(s) proposed.
At the end of the day, would it not depend on what data (particularly those that are identifying, if any) is stored, whether or not other infrastructures that meet compliance requirements are readily available, if there are reliable contractors that already know these other infrastructures and can deliver quickly, etc.? And that's what I wanted to throw out there: I consider myself very slightly more knowledgeable in these things that are out of my domain expertise compared to my colleagues, and I still find it very difficult to make an informed decision.
The feds have been at pains to present COVIDSafe as having stringent privacy safeguards, but they have such an appalling record that few will believe them without trustworthy independent scrutiny. I can't see how that can be possible until (at a bare minimum) the app's source code is released.
I really hope they do, and that they make any necessary improvements subsequently recommended. Contact tracing is a fantastic potential use of mobile technology. It would be a pity for it to be undermined by the usual impulse towards contemptuous patrician secrecy.
7(3) If COVID app data is uploaded from a mobile telecommunications device to the National COVIDSafe Data Store, a person must not:
(a) retain the data on a database outside Australia; or (b) disclose the data to a person outside Australia.
There is still the CLOUDE act (I think it was called). And secret courts.
I agree with you about the other issues, but they are separate to this imo. The determination that was released under the biosecurity act yesterday made it pretty clear what the data can legally be used for.