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Mark Hinchliffe·
NewsMotorbike news
··8 Comments·2 min read

Riders divided over coronavirus tracing app

app divided

Freedom-loving motorcycle riders appear evenly divided about the planned coronavirus tracing app with slightly more than half saying they would download it.

The result comes from our quick online survey which attracted 228 respondents, 98% of which were in Australia.

Divided results

Our survey found 51% say they will download the app to help the health authorities trace people with COVID-19 and alert those who have had contact with them.

However, those who will download the app are also divided with 29% saying they would download it regardless.

The remainder ticked “maybe”.

When asked what conditions they would require before downloading, they were divided between fewer travel restrictions (82%) and privacy assurances (63%). Other inducements attracted negligible responses.

The result appears good news for the government which says it needs 40% take-up rate to be effective.

If more than half of the freedom-loving motorcycle riders in our survey say they will download the app, then the government may be on course to reach their desired take-up rate.

But they may need to offer assurances on privacy and may need to offer the inducement of fewer travel restrictions.

There has been talk that if the app doesn’t reach 40%, the government would make it mandatory, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison appears to have quashed that notion.

Some of the other comments by respondents who said yes or maybe to downloading the app include: ability to remove the app; anonymity; time limited and displaying where infected individuals live

TraceTogether app

The app will be based on the Singapore TraceTogether app that has only had a 20% take-up rate.

Since the app development has not yet been completed, there are no details about how ours will vary from the Singapore app and how privacy would be protected.

See also

Facebook comments

Interestingly, the comments on our Facebook posts about the app had a substantially different result to our online poll.

Our two Facebook posts reached 4800 of our 20,000+ Facebook followers and attracted only 37 likes.

Of the 160+ comments, about 80% were against downloading the app, citing concerns about privacy and a government conspiracy.

Critics of Facebook may suggest this is an example of how social media attracts a skew of negative comments and conspiracy theorists.

Please note: This poll sampled n=223 Australian respondents which may not be representative of the wider Australian population at large.

If you would like the raw data from our survey, please send me an email and I will forward it to you.

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8 Comments

  1. The recent illegal raid on an Australian journalist was over the governments secret plans to spy on Australian citizens yet they did not have to return the material. Julian Assange awaits extradition for exposing corruption and murder. Snowden had to flee America for exposing illegal spying on the American people. Our own whistle blowers are being pursued for exposing War crimes and shameful misuse of an intelligence agency to steal from Timor. Our politicians view of national interest is pretty standard……. For a banana Republic trust them at your peril there must be some sort of sunset clause and a federal ICAC

  2. The biggest problem is that most people don’t understand how the app will work
    The app and data collected would only be on your mobile

    Then if you get infected it would have a log of who has been in contact with you that has been 1.5 meters and been with that person for 15 minutes or more
    This would allow health authorities a log to enable to contact immediately those that may have caught the virus
    The app doesn’t track your movements or where you go
    Only those that may have caught the virus from the person that is tested positive

    1. yes this is the spin Govts are giving, ie it only leaves a log in individual phones etc. Unfortunately no one has seen any code (as per Marc L Jackson above) so we only have the likes of ScoMos word that this is the case. Personally until the actual source code is made public so it can be verified I do not believe the app will not only be used to track us.

  3. Where’s the application source code published? Gitlab? Github? So we can inspect and verify the source code and design documentation.
    The android security framework allows you to authorise the applications access to location or compass, accelerometer.

  4. I think this app is unnecessary given the low infection rate we have achieved. I seems like another OTT idea from a panicking government.

  5. I found it interesting that Singapore, who seemed to have things all under control have recently seen a spike in infection rates. I believe the app, along with everything else the Feds have done is in our best interest, I will most definately be downloading it.

  6. It is telling that only 20% of Singapore’s we-usually-do-as-we-are-told population has not downloaded the app.

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