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COVIDSafe helps slow the spread of COVID-19
COVIDSafe helps slow the spread of COVID-
19
25 August 2020
Tags:
Security (/taxonomy/term/14) Content design (/taxonomy/term/52)
Accessibility (/taxonomy/term/10) COVID-19 (/taxonomy/term/413)
COVIDSafe (/taxonomy/term/419)
The Government launched COVIDSafe on 26 April 2020 as Australia first grappled with the
coronavirus pandemic. Now, 4 months on, the contact tracing app continues to make a
difference. With over 7 million registrations of the app, hundreds of additional contacts have
been identified.
COVIDSafe is an important and effective public health initiative. Since its launch, it has been an
important tool helping to keep Australians safe from further spread of coronavirus. With over 7
million registrations, it has had one of the fastest per capita take-up rates in the world.
In New South Wales, COVIDSafe has identified more than 560 close contacts that were not
picked up by the manual contact tracing process. Of these, 2 contacts were later diagnosed
with the virus. Every contact identified makes a significant difference in stopping the spread of
COVID-19.
How we have developed COVIDSafe
During April, as the government worked to respond to the rapidly changing pandemic, the DTA
and our industry partners developed and launched COVIDSafe in just 3 weeks. Since then, the
DTA has continually improved the COVIDSafe app and the Health Portal used by state and
territory Health Officials.
Over the last 4 months we have updated the app 10 times. We have responded to 27,000
pieces of feedback from users and health officials, and have addressed over 30 issues and
improvements suggested by members of the tech community. Together we have improved
accessibility, reliability, security and usability.
We have developed COVIDSafe openly and transparently.
The COVIDSafe source code was
released on Github (https://covidsafe.gov.au/app-code-terms-and-conditions.html) on 8 May
2020 and has been reviewed by industry, academics and cyber security experts. We continue to
welcome feedback directly through GitHub and email (mailto:xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx).
Performance
We have made several changes to continually improve COVIDSafe’s Bluetooth performance for
some iOS devices.
On 26 May 2020 we added code from the United Kingdom’s National Health Service app,
NHSX, and Singapore’s TraceTogether app. On 3 August 2020, we resolved an iOS connection
issue that the tech community raised related to digital handshakes, further enhancing
Bluetooth reliability and performance. We also continue to work with Apple and Google to
identify more Bluetooth enhancements. These changes have made a significant improvement
to COVIDSafe’s Bluetooth performance on all mobile devices.
COVIDSafe is a system
COVIDSafe is more than the app. It is a system that includes the app and also the Health Portal
state and territory health officials use to identify close contacts. You can find more information
on how the CO
VIDSafe system works on the COVIDSafe website
(https://www.covidsafe.gov.au).
The app and the Health Portal work together to help health officials capture, identify and notify
close contacts. The app captures digital handshakes between devices, while the Health Portal
identifies and provides an assessment of close contacts based on this data.
These components working together are a distinguishing feature of the Australian COVIDSafe
system. It means that Health Officials can more effectively and more rapidly undertake their
contact tracing processes.
Accessibility and availability
COVIDSafe works better when more people use it.
We have prioritised the accessibility of COVIDSafe so more Australians can download and use
it. We are proud that Vision Australia has confirmed that it complies with the
Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/), meeting the
accessibility needs for many people.
The app now supports 98 per cent of Android users (5.0 and above) and 95 per cent of iPhone
users (iOS 10 and above). It uses less than 1MB of data per day and does not need to be
connected continuously to the internet to work. It does need to connect occasionally to
retrieve new temporary IDs from the server.
We have translated the app and help topics into 9 languages including Arabic, Cantonese,
Greek, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi, Turkish and Vietnamese – and on the COVIDSafe
website, the user guide is translated into in 63 languages.
A suite of accessible online resources
(https://www.health.gov.au/resources/collections/covidsafe-app-campaign-resources) is
available to assist people with disability to download and use the app. These include
user
guides and posters translated into 63 languages (https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-
alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/translated-coronavirus-covid-19-resources),
videos with closed captioning and audio voiceovers
(https://www.health.gov.au/resources/collections/covidsafe-app-campaign-resources#videos),
and
online resources (https://www.health.gov.au/resources/collections/covidsafe-app-
campaign-resources) with simplified content. The Council for Intellectual Disability has also
created an
easy read guide and video on the app (https://cid.org.au/our-stories/about-the-
covidsafe-app/) for people with cognitive disabilities.
Security and privacy
The security and privacy of users and their data is paramount to us. We use end-to-end
encryption of digital handshake information to securely encrypt all information and protect
user privacy.
We have also made changes to stop hackers and criminals from exploiting Bluetooth, such as
by using a beacon to crash the app.
The App only asks for the minimum possible information upon registration, and has no way of
knowing your location.
We built COVIDSafe with privacy at its core by design. We will continue to ensure the highest
level of security possible. Cyber experts, academics, and research organisations have confirmed
COVIDSafe is one of the most secure contact-tracing apps in the world.
On 15 May 2020, the Australian Parliament passed the Privacy Amendment (Public Health
Contact Information) Act 2020 (the Act), granting unprecedented privacy protections for
COVIDSafe.
The Privacy Impact Assessment (https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/covidsafe-
application-privacy-impact-assessment) is available which describes COVIDSafe’s compliance
with the
Privacy Act 1988 (https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/the-privacy-act/) and the Australian
Privacy Principles (https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/australian-privacy-principles/). You can also
access the
Department of Health’s response to the assessment
(https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/covidsafe-application-privacy-impact-
assessment-agency-response). Email us (mailto:xxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx) for more information on
the privacy of COVIDSafe.
How you can help
We want as many Australians as possible to download and use the app. We know the more
people are using the app, the more effective it is. It is free to download on iOS
(https://apps.apple.com/au/app/covidsafe/id1509242894) or Android
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.gov.health.covidsafe) devices.
Once you have downloaded the app, make sure it is active in public places and remember to
regularly update the app to the latest version.
Visit www.covidsafe.gov.au (http://www.covidsafe.gov.au) for more information.
For media enquiries email us at xxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx (mailto:xxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx)
For other enquiries email us at
xxxx@xxx.xxx.xx (mailto:xxxx@xxx.xxx.xx)
© Commonwealth of Australia. With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms and
where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under the CC BY 4.0 license.
