The $6.4m NZ Covid Tracer app: Experts verdict on its cost, how it compares to overseas
12 Feb, 2021 04:30 AM
7 minutes to read
The Ministry of Health has revealed spending on the NZ Covid Tracer app reached $6.4 million by the end of 2020 (see table below).
Read More The Herald First revealed that Auckland app developer Rush Digital was the MoH s development partner for the NZ Covid Tracer.
Rush chief executive Pavan Vyas said his company had up to 15 staff working on the app at any one time.
The NZ Covid Tracer was first released on May 20. Its immediate launch was marked by confusion, as people tried to use it to scan posters for various private efforts to create a contact-tracing system, some of which had been in the market since March.
Minister considers law change over tracing data privacy
7 Feb, 2021 01:25 AM
5 minutes to read
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has asked officials for advice on potential law changes that could address lingering privacy worries with the NZ Covid Tracer app. Photo / Bevan Conley
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has asked officials for advice on potential law changes that could address lingering privacy worries with the NZ Covid Tracer app. Photo / Bevan Conley
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has asked officials for advice on potential law changes that could address lingering privacy worries with the NZ Covid Tracer app.
It comes after a leading data expert and Privacy Commissioner John Edwards suggested legal tweaks that would ensure agencies couldn t use tracer data for spying or criminal investigations.
Tenants on blacklists written by landlords, managers: Can post anything they like
4 Feb, 2021 04:42 AM
4 minutes to read
Tenants have objected to blacklists. Photo / Michael Craig
A tenant chief says landlords can post anything they like on blacklists they share, yet there was no recourse for people who rented properties against such lists. Penny Arthur, the Christchurch-based manager of the Tenants Protection Association, said more than one blacklist existed and they weren t fair. We became aware of it at the end of last year, Arthur said of tenant blacklists. There are a number of landlord Facebook groups where landlords can post anything they like about tenants, she said, indicating the tenant might not know nor would be able to object.
“There’s enough there to have a closer look at the sector, it affects a lot of people up and down the country.”
Demand for rental accommodation meant more competition for properties, making applicants feel pressured to provide personal information that went beyond what was required by landlords, he said.
MONIQUE FORD/STUFF
Privacy Commissioner John Edwards is looking into the information that landlords are asking of applicants, and what they’re doing with it. Landlords could legitimately collect personal information to select a tenant, such as proof of identity or whether they had any pets, and to determine if they could pay the rent. However, other information about a tenant’s nationality, marital status, gender or banking history were almost never justified.