NSW has previously ruled out the use of QR-code data by police and public sector agencies,however it would be enshrined in law under the bill,with the provisions having effect despite any other law,including a warrant.
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But Australian National University privacy expert Vanessa Teague said it was unnecessary for NSW to be collecting check-in data in a centralised database,pointing to New Zealand and the UK where information about users’ check-in history is stored on their devices and people are automatically notified if they have been to an exposure site.
“It is over-gathering of information,just on the off chance they need to contact you. Tightening privacy law doesn’t fully protect against the possibility of an accidental data breach or deliberate attack on the database,” Dr Teague said.
People in NSW checked in almost 240 million times in October,up from about 168 million sign-ins during September.
In the first three weeks of October more than 700,000 COVID-19 case alerts were sent to NSW residents via the state’s check-in app. People who receive the alerts are not classed as close or casual contacts,rather the alerts let people know to monitor their symptoms and get tested if unwell.
Mr Dominello has said the function,which from late October has sent push notifications to people if they have been to an exposure site,would be critical as the state learns to live with the virus.
A spokesperson for NSW Health said contact tracers have access to a range of information sources,including Service NSW QR code check-in data,to help contain the spread of COVID-19.
“The collection of accurate details of customers,patrons and visitors makes it easier for contact tracers as they work with cases to reconstruct their movements and determine who they may have come into contact with,” the spokesperson said. They noted that thousands of contacts of cases had been identified due to check-in data,“which is extremely important,especially for higher risk venues”.
The spokesperson said health authorities continue to “review and adapt[the] approach to contact tracing,to reduce transmission and minimise risks to people most vulnerable to severe disease”.
Across NSW 94.3 per cent of people aged 16 and over have received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine and 91.3 per cent have been double-jabbed.
The state reported 262 cases on Thursday,with more than half recorded in the Sydney metropolitan area and almost 100 new infections reported in former hotspots of western and south-western Sydney.
More than 300 infections were recorded in Canterbury-Bankstown and Cumberland in the past seven days.
There were three new deaths,including two men in their 50s and 60s who had not received a dose of a vaccine. A man in his 50s from Sydney’s south-west died at home and a man in his 60s from Sydney’s inner west died at Concord Hospital.
Fifty three new infections were recorded in the Hunter New England area,with the majority in the Mid-Coast and Moree Plains.
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