Concerns and Misconceptions About the Australian Government’s COVIDSafe App: Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Abstract

Background Timely and effective contact tracing is an essential public health measure for curbing the transmission of COVID-19. App-based contact tracing has the potential to optimize the resources of overstretched public health departments. However, its efficiency is dependent on widespread adoption. Objective This study aimed to investigate the uptake of the Australian Government’s COVIDSafe app among Australians and examine the reasons why some Australians have not downloaded the app. Methods An online national survey, with representative quotas for age and gender, was conducted between May 8 and May 11, 2020. Participants were excluded if they were a health care professional or had been tested for COVID-19. Results Of the 1802 potential participants contacted, 289 (16.0%) were excluded prior to completing the survey, 13 (0.7%) declined, and 1500 (83.2%) participated in the survey. Of the 1500 survey participants, 37.3% (n=560) had downloaded the COVIDSafe app, 18.7% (n=280) intended to do so, 27.7% (n=416) refused to do so, and 16.3% (n=244) were undecided. Equally proportioned reasons for not downloading the app included privacy (165/660, 25.0%) and technical concerns (159/660, 24.1%). Other reasons included the belief that social distancing was sufficient and the app was unnecessary (111/660, 16.8%), distrust in the government (73/660, 11.1%), and other miscellaneous responses (eg, apathy and following the decisions of others) (73/660, 11.1%). In addition, knowledge about COVIDSafe varied among participants, as some were confused about its purpose and capabilities. Conclusions For the COVIDSafe app to be accepted by the public and used correctly, public health messages need to address the concerns of citizens, specifically privacy, data storage, and technical capabilities. Understanding the specific barriers preventing the uptake of contact tracing apps provides the opportunity to design targeted communication strategies aimed at strengthening public health initiatives, such as downloading and correctly using contact tracing apps.

Drivers of Acceptance of COVID-19 Proximity Tracing Apps in Switzerland: Panel Survey Analysis

“…Our observations of technical problems and persistent privacy concerns as reasons for nonuse or uninstallations of the SwissCovid app are consistent with those of a study in Australia [ 30 ], which reported similar user complaints. Furthermore, (a lack of) government trust emerged as a strong influencing factor for app usage in our and other surveys [ 23 ].…”

“…Overall, our findings also correspond well with other international population surveys of DPT app use, most of which were performed before [ 23 - 29 ], and some after app release [ 30 ]. For example, several studies confirmed the finding that higher education status [ 25 ], and younger age [ 23 ] were associated with a higher willingness to use DPT apps.…”

“…Furthermore, (a lack of) government trust emerged as a strong influencing factor for app usage in our and other surveys [ 23 ]. For example, approximately 11% of the respondents of the Australian survey cited government mistrust as a reason for not using the app [ 30 ]. In Switzerland, there was an early, rather strong consensus that the DPT app must be issued and managed by the government [ 37 ].…”

Challenges for Nontechnical Implementation of Digital Proximity Tracing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Media Analysis of the SwissCovid App

“…Indeed, public surveys, some of which were conducted prior to app release, found that user acceptance of DPT strongly depends on privacy guarantees and public trust in app developers and sponsors [18][19][20]. Moreover, analyses of early DPT implementations, for example in Australia, suggest that technical aspects (eg, battery consumption, the need for apps to run in the foreground [21]) as well as persistent misconceptions [22,23] also play roles in user decisions and may hinder wide adoption. Therefore, privacy and trust deliberations have steered many of the academic [24] and public [25] debates as well as design decisions [26,27] related to DPT.…”

COVID-19 and Artificial Intelligence: the pandemic pacifier

“…[11]. Contact tracing platforms like Aarogya Setu App [12], implemented by the Government of India, Australian Government's COVID Safe app [13], Trace Together-a Bluetooth-based contact tracing app developed in Singapore [14]; based on syndromic mapping/surveillance technology [15] Such a transition represents a futuristic breakthrough, as it imminently optimizes advanced, open-access platforms to unlock their capacity to assist researchers in designing a diagnostic test for pathogens. Deployment of international and national responses to any outbreak are far more rapid and efficient [16].…”