Internal emails sent amongst Government staffers show the scramble to stop coders from beating the MIQ voucher system.
In January, 1 NEWS revealed computer programmers were creating bots that booked managed isolation vouchers on behalf of Kiwis desperate to get home.
Bots are software applications that run automated tasks.
The Managed Isolation Allocation System (MIAS) was built and developed by a third-party contractor, with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in charge of approving changes.
Emails between MBIE staff released under the Official Information Act show concern about programmers’ activities escalating over time.
"There’s nothing really that needs to be done about this” one staffer said on the morning of January 12, the day after 1 NEWS broke the story.
“While this is not technically illegal, it is pretty cheeky”.
An email later that morning said those managing the MIQ booking system were “looking at options” to stop the programmers’ scripts from working, “but anything is likely to make it harder for the ordinary person who follows the rules”.
“Any further measures will likely make the system much more difficult for regular users” another email read.
But later that afternoon head of MIQ Jim Bliss and deputy chief executive Megan Main were sent an email saying a system was being deployed “which should manage the scripting”.
“[Redacted] has asked if we are confident this will work, and has it gone in – the Minister’s office has asked if we are doing anything about the issue so would be good to report back”, an email read.
“If he means will it stop this particular bad actor – from what I can see it should whack this particular mole (albeit make it less user friendly for good actors)” the response read.
“He means will it stop the bots. So I’ll let him know … that’s the intended outcome” the reply read.
But that’s not what happened.
Hundreds of overseas-based New Zealanders are struggling to get home amid the global pandemic.
One programmer told 1 NEWS a week later that the changes made to the website had indeed made it harder for regular people to book vouchers, as had been predicted by MIQ staffers, but the changes had also not stopped him from booking them.
“The challenge they've put on the site doesn't prevent scanning for the dates I need. When the date appears, I’m able to go in and get it,” Dan* said at the time.
On Monday, January 25, staffers suggested that boosting voucher availability would fix the problem.
“Keeping days available on the site will reduce the need for people to try and work around the system … if we can maintain the forward calendar as flight schedules become available and prevent the site from selling out, then the benefit of this bot drops.
“Bots are only effective when zero availability exits [sic] and they become effective at trolling MIAS availability to find vouchers released. Availability of vouchers makes bots unnecessary.”
On March 9, concerns were raised about the Twitter accounts run by programmer Andrew Connell, who spoke to 1 NEWS about his concerns with the MIQ voucher system.
The accounts alert followers when vouchers for certain dates are released. MIQ staffers seemed sympathetic towards Connell’s cause.
The Government said it would be preventing coders from booking vouchers on behalf of people, but it hasn’t yet happened.
“This behaviour is a breach of the MIAS terms of use …. however – wondering if this is reducing the number of refreshes from others, who follow the Twitter account instead?”.
“They do seem to help frustrated people who are desperate for any information about release timings (that we seem unable to provide)” a colleague responded.
Dan* told 1 NEWS in March that he alone had booked more than 100 vouchers for Kiwis trying to return home, most of which had been booked after measures were put in place to stop it.
MBIE told 1 NEWS that “thousands” of bot attempts have been successfully blocked.
“Through investigation, we have identified that an incredibly small number of passengers achieved, or attempted to achieve a booking through the direct use of a bot.”
*Name has been changed.
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