The Ministry of Health has defended asking Amazon to develop New Zealand's coronavirus contact tracing app, insisting it's not a contradiction of the Government's 'buy local' messaging.
The NZ COVID-19 Tracer app was launched on Wednesday to mixed reviews, with some people unable to find it in their device's app store and others complaining of poor design and uncertainty about how to use it.
But amidst concerns about the app's functionality, other concerns also came to the fore: namely a sentence on the app's privacy statement that reads: "In order to deliver this service we use Amazon Web Services (AWS) located in Sydney, Australia."
NZ Herald business writer Chris Keall described the Government's decision to hand the app contract to Amazon as "amazing", saying it contradicted earlier messaging about supporting local businesses.
Amazon - with a market value of more than US$1.23 trillion - is the world's 22nd largest company, according to Forbes. Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest man on the planet, and is reportedly on track to become the first trillionaire in history.
But the Ministry of Health says its use of Amazon to make the app "wasn't a case of hypocrisy", as the Government has already held a cloud services contract with the company for several years.
"The All of Government cloud services agreement has been in place since 2017," a spokesperson told Newshub.
"Amazon Web Services is part of an All-of-Government cloud services agreement that was formed in 2017 following a robust procurement process.
"This agreement allows all government agencies to access AWS services and infrastructure on the same terms ensuring secure access to the latest services and features."
Responding to criticism that the Government didn't consider New Zealand tech firms before giving the contract to Amazon, the Ministry of Health said: "AWS services and infrastructure were reviewed as part of the procurement process and are regularly tested against third-party assurance frameworks."
More concerns were raised on Wednesday after another line in the app's privacy statement said the Ministry of Health would store users' personal information - not the user themselves, as it had previously claimed.
However, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield allayed fears the Government had gone back on its word, telling media at his daily COVID-19 briefing that the Ministry of Health only held users' contact details.
All check-in information was only available to users on their own device, he added.
