BCG and COVIDsafe

Andy Johnson made this Freedom of Information request to Digital Transformation Agency

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

Waiting for an internal review by Digital Transformation Agency of their handling of this request.

Andy Johnson

Dear Digital Transformation Agency

I would like to request access to the final deliverables relating to the COVIDSafe app developed by BCG Digital Ventures for the Department / Agency. Specifically I mean deliverables produced by the consulting firm including design report, technical documentation, and software architecture description. I would also like to request copies of presentations delivered by BCG to the Department executives / steering committees during their engagement. Finally I would like to request copies of IT security audits of the application if this has been done.

As this app is of significant public interest both from a public health and privacy perspective, I request that the FOI fees be waived.

Yours faithfully,

Andy Johnson

FOI, Digital Transformation Agency

OFFICIAL

Dear Andy,

Freedom of Information Request – FOI 186/2020

Thank you for your email to the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).

List of documents requested:

the final deliverables relating to the COVIDSafe app developed by BCG Digital Ventures for the Department / Agency. Specifically I mean deliverables produced by the consulting firm including design report, technical documentation, and software architecture description.

I would also like to request copies of presentations delivered by BCG to the Department executives / steering committees during their engagement.

Finally I would like to request copies of IT security audits of the application if this has been done.

The statutory period for processing your request commences from the day after DTA received your request. Your request was received by DTA on 1 May 2020. The processing period may be extended if we need to consult third parties, impose a charge or for other reasons. We will advise you if this happens.

Liability to pay a charge
You will be notified of any charges in relation to your request as soon as possible, before we process any requested documents or impose a final charge.

Publication
As required by the FOI Act, information released under the FOI Act may later be published online unless an exemption applies. For example, personal information will not be published where this would be unreasonable. Any documents provided to you under the FOI Act will be published on our disclosure log (www.dta.gov.au) as soon as practicable after they are released to you, usually 1 – 2 working days.

Policy to exclude junior departmental officer contact details
The DTA will include the names and contact details of SES officers in any document released under FOI. However, the DTA has adopted a policy to generally exclude the names and contact details of junior staff (non-SES officers) from any FOI documents. DTA’s preference is to reach agreement with FOI applicants to exclude these details from the scope of the request. Where there is no objection, the names and contact details of junior officers are redacted under section 22 of the FOI Act, on the basis that these details are irrelevant to the request.

Please contact the FOI Team on the below contact details if you wish to discuss your request.

Regards,
Morgan

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Freedom of Information
Digital Transformation Agency (DTA)
Australian Government
www.dta.gov.au
Email: [email address]
+61 2 6120 8541

OFFICIAL

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FOI, Digital Transformation Agency

2 Attachments

OFFICIAL

Hi Andy,

 

Please find enclosed correspondence about your FOI request.

 

Regards,

Morgan

 

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Freedom of Information

Digital Transformation Agency (DTA)

Australian Government

[1]www.dta.gov.au

Email: [email address]

+61 2 6120 8541

 

[2]DTA Logo with Commonwealth Coat of Arms.

 

 

OFFICIAL

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.dta.gov.au/

Dear FOI,

I do not think it is fair charging this fee given the significant amount of public interest in this matter recently. Millions of people have downloaded the app in recent months and they deserve to know whether it is secure given Australian taxpayer money paid for it. The publicity is further exacerbated by the fact that state health authorities have not been effective in making good use of the app yet. Therefore please share the documents at no cost.

As mentioned in my first email, I kindly request that the fees be waived.

If this is still not possible, I would like to request an internal review.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Johnson

FOI, Digital Transformation Agency

1 Attachment

OFFICIAL

Hi Andy,

Please see attached a letter about your request for internal review.

Regards,
Morgan

-- 
Freedom of Information
Digital Transformation Agency (DTA)
Australian Government
www.dta.gov.au
Email: [DTA request email]
+61 2 6120 8541

OFFICIAL

show quoted sections

Posty left an annotation ()

Andy, you can dispute the request for charge with the OAIC by asking for an OAIC review.

The reasons stated here are flimsy, nobody else except the original applicant can ask for a review.

it's not a quick process though.

Details here.
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...

Dear FOI,

I would like you to kindly reconsider your intent to charge me almost $900 when BCG has been laid $900k for an app that hasn’t effectively identified or traced any case of Covid yet.

I would like to request an OAIC review of this case.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Johnson