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Australian COVID contact traci...

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Australian COVID contact tracing app is branded as an expensive 'failure'

Australian COVID contact tracing app
The Silicon Review
11 August, 2022

Australian multi-million dollar Covid contacts tracking app has been decommissioned and branded "a failure" after identifying only two unique infections.

The app COVIDsafe was first launched in April 2020 and cost $14m. It was designed to help manual contract tracers identify positive Covid infections. The former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison previously touted COVIDsafe as "essential as putting on sunscreen." But the efficacy of this Bluetooth-based tracking method has been questioned by experts. Health Minister Mark Butler called it a "colossal waste" of taxpayer's money and urged people to delete the app.

Mr. Butler previously called for the app to be scrapped and revealed that just 17 close contacts not found manually had been identified since then. He said, "It is clear this app failed as a public health measure, and that's why we've acted to delete it." The app will formally be decommissioned on 16 August. No users' data would be retained, confirmed Mr. Butler.

COVIDsafe was designed under the previous government of Australia. The government refused help from tech giants Google and Apple, whose contact-tracing system was adopted globally by more than 50 jurisdictions. The app was considered a critical part of the government's strategy to return to normality. However, it was beset with technical difficulties from the start. 

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