“Given QR codes were introduced in the best interest of community health,are temporary and rely wholly on community compliance,we believe that the data collected should be free of any intrusion whatsoever,outside of its original purpose of contact tracing.”
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Western Australia’s government rushed through legislation last week to toughen up privacy laws preventing agencies other than the state health department – including police and the state’s anti-corruption body – accessing check-in data.
Previously WA police could view the database at any time,which it emergedthey had done in separate investigations into a shooting and a stabbing.
Details of the attempts by Victorian police come on the back of data in last month’s state budget showing community confidence in police was at a 10-year low.
The rating of 82 per cent,well below the target of 87 per cent,continued a downward trend since a peak of 89 per cent in 2014-15. The budget papers acknowledged the drop was “due to community interactions with police in relation to Chief Health Officer’s directions”.
Opposition police spokesman David Southwick said the Victorian government must follow the lead of WA and introduce urgent laws “before it’s too late and confidence is lost”.
Credit:Matt Golding
“From enforcing Labor’s inconsistent lockdowns,issuing more COVID fines than any other states and now attempting to access confidential QR code data,it’s little wonder why confidence in Victoria Police is at a decade low,” he said.
Greens MP Tim Read said people checking in at venues shouldn’t need to consider whether their details could be used for any other purpose.
“If these QR codes were set up as a health measure to contact trace and keep Victorians safe from COVID,the government can’t now flip the script and say they can also be used by police,” he said. “The pandemic should never be used as a free pass for police overreach.“
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More than 61 million checks-ins have been recorded on the Service Victoria app since May 1,including 29 million at 190,000 businesses and venues last week. Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has repeatedly pointed to QR codes’ importance in managing outbreaks.
Liberty Victoria president Julia Kretzenbacher said the state should replicate WA’s laws because even one instance of police being granted access via a court order would seriously undermine the public’s willingness to check in.
“This is not a matter of not trusting Victoria’s court system. It’s ensuring the public in general is confident about their data being kept private,” she said.
“Police already have a number of other strong powers available to them for criminal investigations.”
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