South Australia, one of six states down under, has unveiled a new Orwellian app using facial recognition and geolocation tags to enforce Covid quarantine orders.
The app was designed to track domestic travel in Australia.
Australians returning from New South Wales and Victoria will be required to prove they are obeying a 14-day quarantine by uploading a photo with geolocation to prove their location within 15 minutes of being pinged by the app.
“We don’t tell them how often or when, on a random basis they have to reply within 15 minutes,” Steven Marshall, premier of the state of South Australia said.
If a person doesn’t upload a photo within 15 minutes, a police officer will show up to their door to conduct an in-person check.
The Australian government defended the intrusive app in a statement to Fox News.
“The home quarantine app is for a selected cohort of returning South Australians who have applied to be a part of the trial. if successful, it will help safely ease the burden of travel restrictions associated with the pandemic,” a government spokesperson told Fox News.
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The government of South Australia, one of the country’s six states, has implemented a new policy requiring Australians to use an app with facial recognition software and geolocation to prove that they are abiding by a 14-day quarantine for travel within the country.
Steven Marshall, premier of the state of South Australia, launched the quarantine app policy in late August. Residents returning from New South Wales and Victoria, two other Australian states, may spend their 14 days in post-travel quarantine at home, rather than in a hotel, so long as they download and use the “Orwellian” app, developed by the South Australian government, ABC News Australia reported.
The app uses geolocation and facial recognition software to track those in quarantine. The app will contact people at random, asking them to provide proof of their location within 15 minutes.
If the resident cannot verify his or her location or identity when requested, the South Australia Health Department will notify the police, who will then conduct an in-person check on the person in quarantine. Marshall said the government will not be storing any of the information provided to the app.
In a statement to Fox News, the government of South Australia noted that registration to use the app for home quarantine is voluntary. Only about 20 people who have applied for the program are using the app in early September.
“The home quarantine app is for a selected cohort of returning South Australians who have applied to be a part of the trial. if successful, it will help safely ease the burden of travel restrictions associated with the pandemic,” a government spokesperson told Fox News.
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