United Networks wants in on the government's tracing app

United Networks wants in on the government's tracing app

Yolanda Redrup Reporter Apr 21, 2020 – 12.01am

United Networks has been left dumbfounded by the government's decision not to involve the telecommunications company in the development of its contact tracing app, despite already having a solution used by major insurers.

The ASX-listed company, which has a market capitalisation of $9.8 million and generated $7.25 million in revenue in the first six months of 2019-20, has already developed a contact tracing solution, which was used by insurers like Cover-More to contact Australians during the 2017 London Bridge and Barcelona terror attacks.

United Networks chairman and co-founder Anthony Ghattas told The Australian Financial Review the business had tried to reach out to the government, but to date had received little interest.

He said it was frustrating the government could end up developing an app based on Singapore's TraceTogether app, when there was a local business with expertise in the field.

"We have developed from a telecoms company into a global messaging and community care platform and we've already learnt what technologies work, what don't and importantly that you can't rely on one form of technology, you have to be integrated with many," he said.

"Our technology works, be it via an app, bluetooth, an eSim, a physical sim or via GPS. We have five to six layers of information capable of helping us triangulate and accurately place a person where they are. If someone is in a building we can tell roughly what floor they're on and where they are."

Mr Ghattas' comments come after the government confirmed last week that it was developing an opt-in contact tracing app, which uses source code created by the Singapore's Government Technology Agency, but is being developed for Australian conditions by the local Digital Transformation Agency.

United Networks' technology is able to utilise GPS, cellular networks and Wi-Fi for more accurate location data, but Mr Ghattas said if it was the government's preference to only use bluetooth, it was also capable of doing this.

He disagreed with the approach of just using bluetooth, despite it being considered the best option by privacy experts, believing it has too many limitations. These include the necessity for people to have the app running in the foreground and the fact many people have bluetooth disabled.

"Bluetooth will and can work if people log into the app, engage with it and keep it running," he said. "But you can't rely on it if you want a true transparent picture. Apps also don't work well, or consistently, for the longer term."

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