Has anyone asked the question of whether the #COVIDSafe app is effective? Is there evidence that apps like this one have worked elsewhere?
What are the downstream consequences of using this app? If it identifies dozens of false contacts, are we stretching the resources of human contact tracers that have to follow up these contacts? If it doubles the contacts, do we need double the human contact tracers?
Will contact tracers change their behaviour and rely more on this untested app? Might they start to miss actual contacts because they weren't identified by the app? Could it actually reduce contact diagnoses?
What are the harms of receiving a text on your phone that you’ve been in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with SARS-CoV2? Even when the risk is nominal or the contact recorded by the app is a false positive?
The evidence to support the effectiveness of this app, compared with traditional contact tracing alone, has not been provided. There is a risk that it may make current methods less effective, result in more resources used, and result in harm if it notifies false positive contacts
