Governments mobilized digital surveillance to contain the spread of the virus
Translation published on 04/01/2020
Electronic tracking bracelet on a passenger at Hong Kong International Airport. Photo file: Rachel Wong / HKFP.
This article was written by Shui-yin Sharon Yam, an assistant professor of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies at the University of Kentucky, and was originally published in Hong Kong Free Press on March 24, 2020 . It is reproduced on Global Voices under a content association agreement.
See Global Voices special coverage on the global impact of COVID-19 .
Since the COVID-19 outbreak turned into a rapidly spreading pandemic, governments around the world have implemented new policies to help mitigate the spread of the virus.
In addition to closing borders for non-citizens, several governments have also mobilized digital surveillance technologies to track and contain visitors and citizens.
On Wednesday, March 18, the Hong Kong Government announced that all newcomers to the city must undergo two weeks of self-imposed quarantine and wear an electronic wristband that connects to a location tracking application on their cell phones.
If the application detects changes in the person's location, it will alert the Health Department and the Police. Prior to this policy, only people who had recently visited the Hubei province in China were required to wear a monitoring bracelet during their quarantine period.
While technologies and surveillance measures can provide the public with a sense of security to control the spread of the virus, we must be vigilant about its continued use after the pandemic disappears.
European and North American countries such as Italy, Spain and the United States are severely affected by the coronavirus. Meanwhile, international media praised Asian countries for their swift responses and the use of surveillance technologies to control the outbreak.
The Singapore Government, for example, implemented policies that can rigorously and effectively track a complex chain of contacts . Starting in February, anyone entering a government or corporate building in Singapore must provide their contact information.
In addition, the Government has been collecting a significant amount of data detailing every known case of infection and also where the person lives and works, as well as the network of contacts to which he is linked.
Although these measures seem to have produced positive results for now, they have highlighted the Government's capacity and technological potential to monitor the movements and lives of each person.
In China, where COVID-19 was first detected, the Government has been employing drastic containment policies and also various surveillance technologies to ensure public compliance with quarantine and isolation.
In addition to using drones to monitor people's movements and ensure that they remain in their homes, in five Chinese cities, the Police patrol the streets with smart helmets equipped with thermo-examination technologies that sound an alarm if a person's temperature exceeds the threshold.
The Government has also collaborated with Hanwang Technology Limited to refine their existing facial recognition technology so that it works even when the person wears a mask.
By connecting to a temperature sensor and the existing Chinese Government database and state-level information, this technology allows authorities to immediately identify the name of each person whose body temperature is above 38 ° C.
According to Hanwang Technology, this sophisticated facial recognition technology can identify up to 30 people "in a second."
While the use of surveillance technologies such as these have been effective in reducing the number of confirmed cases in China, they also carry risks.
Beyond the pandemic, both the Chinese government and the company have substantial interests in the development and use of this technology: the government can use it to track and suppress political opponents, while society has much to gain from the point of view. financially.
This technology can also be captured by China's counterterrorism forces to more tightly monitor and regulate the movement of the Uighurs, which the Chinese government lists as terrorists, and who are currently forced to enter mass detention camps and are subjected to forced labor.
Outside Asia, countries in the Middle East such as Israel and Iran have also employed similar surveillance technologies , out of the need to control the spread of the coronavirus.
The Israeli Government uses technologies developed for the anti-terrorist fight to collect data from cell phones, so that it can trace people's contact networks, as well as identify those who must quarantine.
Geolocation data collected through cell phones will be used to alert the public to where they should not go based on infection patterns.
Not only is there no precedent for Israel using anti-terrorism data to combat a health crisis, but the existence of this treasure trove of data, according to The New York Times , has also not been previously reported.
On March 6, researcher Nariman Gharib revealed that the Iranian government has been tracking its citizens' cell phone data through an application disguised as a diagnostic tool for the coronavirus.
Security expert Nikolaos Chrysaidos confirmed that the app collected sensitive personal information that is not related to the outbreak. For example, the app recorded the user's body movements like a physical test tracker would.
Google removed the app from Google Play, but this case demonstrates the need for constant public surveillance of the Government's use of surveillance technologies in the name of public health.
Preserving public health has historically been used by prevailing government institutions and authorities as a justification to stigmatize, monitor, and regulate the lives of marginalized people, such as immigrants, racial minorities, the LGBTQ + community, and those living in poverty.
If we do not hold our government accountable for the use of surveillance technologies during the current pandemic and in the future, we will expose those who are already marginalized to even greater risks of regulation, repression and persecution.
Written byHong Kong Free Press
Translated byMaria Emilia Miller
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