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COVID-19 contact tracing app: 'I get it, but I don't like it'

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Young people are wary of downloading an app that would allow the government to track their contacts in the event they contract COVID-19, although some say they would consider downloading it if they knew for certain it would be used only for a specific time and purpose.

Sean Mullan, 25, was placed on indefinite leave by his marketing company two weeks ago. He said he was still in a state of shock that something "as intangible as a virus" could cause so much global disruption.

Sean Mullan from Surry Hills, NSW with his dog Buddy at Centennial Park. He appreciates the purpose of a COVID-19 contact tracing app, but he personally would not download it. Peter Braig

Personally, he would not download the app because he is interacting with such a small range of people, and if one of them contracted COVID-19, the normal process of manual tracing would work just fine. However, people who were more vulnerable to COVID-19 should "100 per cent" download it.

"I understand why they're wanting to do this," he said. "Everyone is always worried about privacy, but at the end of the day companies do this. Facebook use it, Instagram use it, Apple use it. What's the difference between the government using it for healthcare purposes versus other companies using it for advertising purposes?

"I suspect that a lot of corporations, they track all your information. It's being sold left, right and centre. The government probably do something like this already, and now they're just saying, 'we're going to be using it for health purposes'."

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Shelley, 32, runs two small businesses, one in dog walking and another fitness business that she had to close due to COVID-19.

She was feeling the mental health strain of restricted movement and reduced socialisation, but she said she would not download the app.

"I don't like that they can do that," she said. "I don't like technology anyway ... I get nervous about using Google Maps, and when it is constantly asking for my location.

"I mean, I get it. But I don't like it."

Melissa, 33, who works in a hospital, was more undecided. She said that on the one hand the app "would create more fear", but on the other, she would probably download it "out of curiosity" if she knew more about how it worked.

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She was also concerned about the idea of other countries hacking into any data generated.

Students at the Australian National University, Angus Palmer and Finlay Dennison, both 19, are complying strictly with the social distancing requirements but are eager to resume their face-to-face studies in engineering and finance respectively.

Mr Dennison thinks the app "sounds awfully invasive" and "Big Brother-esque", but said if it was guaranteed that the app would only be used for a set purpose and period, and the data was not stored beyond COVID-19, he would "probably at this point" download the app.

"The only problem for me is after the fact. I think it's important now," he said.

"But the idea of the government having a tracking software on my phone ... I would need to look into it more. But I would lean more towards yes, just in terms of trying to be helpful".

Mr Palmer said: "Almost on principle, I would say no, but like honestly, I personally would not care. I know they always say privacy is really important, but honestly, I am going to be at home, going to the shops, or running around here [gestures to park],"

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But still, he said it was highly important to figure out what exactly as a citizen you were giving up, and how lasting those effects were going to be.

"If you look at it as it manages to speed up the process of identifying who might be at risk, and stopping them from continuing to go out to the shops or whatever, and that ends up saving a life, then maybe it's worth it for giving up [who we are in contact with] for this period."

The other issue Mr Palmer identified was simply a download volume problem.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is hoping that around 40 per cent of Australians would opt in to using the app for its utility as a contract tracing tool to kick in, but Mr Palmer said he strongly doubted that we would see those kind of numbers in Australia.

Natasha Gillezeau is a journalist for The Australian Financial Review based in the Sydney office. Connect with Natasha on Twitter. Email Natasha at natasha.gillezeau@afr.com.au

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