"I treasure the government knowing as little about me as possible. There's always the argument if you've done nothing wrong you've got nothing to worry about. My argument is if I'm of no concern you need know nothing about me," he said. Loading "Australia is doing an extraordinary job of flattening the curve by reason that we are overwhelmingly decent and logical people. We don't need an app to tell us that." Government Services Minister Stuart Robert said on Saturday the app would enable much more effective tracing of community contacts with confirmed COVID-19 cases – regarded as essential if social distancing restrictions are to be eased. A strong testing and tracing regime allows for rapid responses to any outbreaks. He said the source code would be publicly released – something Liberal MPs including Trent Zimmerman had called for – and a privacy impact assessment was underway so Australians could be assured "the app is simply a health app for individuals, voluntarily used, to help us trace those who may have been close to someone who's been infected by the virus".

"There's no geo-location, there's no surveillance, there's no tracking," Mr Robert said. Mr Robert said people could delete the app from their phones when the pandemic is finished and the government would wipe any stored information and "therefore no data will be kept for individual citizens". Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video John Roskam, who heads the Institute of Public Affairs think tank, which is influential with many Liberal MPs, said the app was "very bad and very dangerous". "There is no way the government or any technology company can be trusted with that information, and guarantees the government gives are worthless," he said. "It is authoritarian and goes against everything the Liberal Party stands for, and it is incredible it is even being considered."

Other MPs surveyed on Saturday about the app said they were happy to download it but wanted assurances their data would be protected. Liberal Tim Wilson said: "Everyone should make their own decision but I will happily, voluntarily be downloading the app with an expectation it will be removed immediately after the pandemic, and a firm commitment from the government that all data disappears with COVID-19." Loading Mr Zimmerman said the app was warranted amid a global health crisis but said that "the data being collected obviously needs to come with assurances that it can only be used for health purposes". Labor MP Julian Hill shared Mr Joyce's pessimism, saying he was not inclined to download the app, but "may be persuaded" if his serious concerns about privacy were addressed. Other Liberal and Labor MPs surveyed said they were happy to download the software although some wanted more detail.

Independent MP Zali Steggall tweeted that a "lack of trust in, and transparency by, government is a major hurdle to people accepting [the] contract tracing app". Liberal senator Andrew Bragg praised the idea, saying he would happily sign up. "It makes sense to digitise contact tracing," he said. Labor MP Tim Watts said "a well designed contact tracing app, with rigorous privacy protections and governance arrangements, could potentially play a significant role in helping us respond to the virus" but called for more public consultation and detail from the government. Labor's Ed Husic said he would probably download it for the "greater good" but there needed to be an ironclad guarantee the data would not be used or sold for any other purposes. The app will register contact with two phones if their owners spend 15 minutes within 1.5 metres of each other. If a person with the app subsequently tests positive for COVID-19, they can register that in the app and the information will be immediately provided to public health officials. People who came into close contact with the confirmed case can then be alerted.