The Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner, Angelene Falk, has assured the public that personal information collected by the COVIDSafe contact tracing app will be closely guarded.
The COVIDSafe contact tracing app was released this week to help combat the spread of COVID-19.
The Commissioner said important safeguards had been put in place to protect personal information collected through the app.
She welcomed the public release of the Privacy Impact Assessment commissioned by the Department of Health, which made recommendations to improve privacy protections.
“The Privacy Impact Assessment has provided transparency and accountability for the use of personal information, and supports community confidence in the app,” Ms Falk said.
Important legal safeguards were in place, including a determination under the Biosecurity Act 2015, she said.
“This ensures that the app must be voluntary, and that personal information collected can only be used for purposes related to contact tracing. It also puts important deletion and time limitations in place.”
She said that under the Australian Government Agencies Privacy Code, an agency must undertake a written Privacy Impact Assessment for projects involving new ways of handling personal information.
“My office has worked constructively to provide advice and guidance to Government as it considered the privacy issues through its Privacy Impact Assessment,” Ms Falk said.
She said the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner will have independent oversight of personal information handling by the app and the COVIDSafe data store.
“My office will watch the implementation of the contact tracing app closely,” the Commissioner said. “We can audit the system and investigate complaints from the public about privacy issues.
“We will also closely review the legislation that is intended to be introduced and monitor the implementation of the Privacy Impact Assessment recommendations.”
The 78-page COVIDSafe Privacy Impact Assessment can be accessed at this PS News link.
