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COVIDSafe update aims for almost perfect logging of contacts, but tech experts say app's technology is outdated

The Federal Government has overhauled the COVIDSafe contact tracing app, saying the new version logs "encounters" almost perfectly, whether or not the device is locked or the app is running in the background.

But the announcement has drawn a mixture of surprise and despair from the tech community, which says the update ignores the fact that COVIDSafe is outdated and other countries are rapidly shifting to a tried-and-tested contact tracing technology developed by Google and Apple.

Vanessa Teague, CEO of Thinking Cybersecurity and a central figure in the tech community, said she spent months fixing COVIDSafe and trying to engage with the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) in discussion of future options, only to learn about the news through a press release.

"If they had asked any of us what to do, we would have said switch to the Google-Apple Exposure Notification Framework," she said.

"Instead of that, they've chosen to do more of the same."

Open-source engineer Geoffrey Huntley, who has helped identify and fix problems with COVIDSafe, said he was "blindsided" by Monday's announcement.

"I believe this is a distraction," he said.

Jim Mussared, a software engineer who alerted the government to flaws he found in the app earlier this year, said tying to improve COVIDSafe outdated technology was "irrelevant".

"It's just rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic," he said.

Reporting by technology reporter James Purtill.

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTEyLTAxL2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLWF1c3RyYWxpYS1saXZlLW5ld3MtY292aWQtMTktcWxkLWJvcmRlcnMtb3Blbi8xMjkzNzI0MtIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjkzNzI0Mg?oc=5

2020-12-01 00:00:00Z
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