One Nation supporters REFUSE to download the COVIDSafe app after Pauline Hanson says she 'doesn't trust the government' not to spy on her
- One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has said she will not download the COVID app
- Senator fears government will use app for 'other purposes' than contact tracing
- Thousands of her supporters also said they would not download the app
- The government wants 40% of people to sign up to safely relax restrictions
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
One Nation supporters have refused to download the coronavirus app after Pauline Hanson said she would not.
The senator posted on her Facebook page that she fears the government will use the app for 'other purposes' than tracing the contacts of people with coronavirus.
'I won't be putting it on my phone. Like many Australians, I don't trust Government,' she wrote.
Her post received thousands of comments from supporters declaring they too would not download the app - despite the government's pleas.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said she will not be downloading the coronavirus app
One Nation supporters have refused to download the coronavirus app after Pauline Hanson said she would not
'Go Pauline I am not downloading it have concerns about privacy,' wrote one.
'I refuse to download the App and I'm a healthcare worker,' added another.
Today Prime Minister Scott Morrison said 'please, please download the app' as he urged Australians to sign up.
Mr Morrison has said restrictions can be relaxed more safely if more people download the app.
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Two million people had signed up in the 24 hours after the app was unveiled on Sunday.
The app does not track people's locations and only asks for their postcode.
The federal government has assured Australians that it will have no access to their data via the app. Only state health officials can access data if the user consents.
COVIDSafe data is meant to be deleted after 21 days and destroyed once the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
Police will have no access to the app, the government has said. Pictured: Police at the Gold Coast
Australians who sign on to the app receive a screen message promising their privacy will be protected.
'Other agencies, including law enforcement, will not be able to access the information unless investigating misuse of the information itself,' it says.
'These provisions will be enshrined in legislation when parliament returns in May.'
The Australian Council for Civil Liberties favours the app, provided police are barred from accessing the data, as the government has promised.
The app is not compulsory but the government wants people to use it
'Manual contact tracing is far too slow and far too resource intensive,' its president Terry O'Gorman told Daily Mail Australia.
'It does have the potential to aid significantly in controlling this pandemic - we support it but only with significant privacy protections.'
Independent Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie said she was worried the app was open to cyber-attack, with the government already showing a poor record when it came to protecting Australians' data.
Most crossbenchers had settled on the app while others had concerns, Senator Lambie told the ABC on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a northern Sydney business group has had to withdraw its advice to local traders to ban people who didn't have the app.
The government has said it would be illegal for businesses to screen customers for the app.
Ku-ring-gai Chamber of Commerce president Peter Vickers said it shouldn't be illegal if Australia wanted to avoid a deadly New York City-style outbreak.
'If you don't want the app on your phone, by all means stay at home,' he said.
