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By Umberto Bacchi
This story is being regularly updated with new developments.
TBILISI, March 27 – The coronavirus pandemic has pushed governments globally to impose draconian lockdowns, travel bans and tighter border controls in a bid to stem the spread of the contagious virus.
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From China to Russia, containment measures have often come with heightened surveillance, as authorities use artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to keep tabs on the population, alarming human rights activists and privacy experts.
Here is a rundown of governments rolling out technology to track and contain the outbreak:
CHINA
Authorities across China have rolled out “big data” measures, adding to a host of monitoring tools already being used, such as facial recognition and phone data tracking.
These include apps monitoring the daily temperature of students preparing to return to school or assigning people colour codes based on their travels, time spent in outbreak hotspots and exposure to potential carriers of the virus.
SOUTH KOREA
In South Korea, private software developers have set up websites and apps to help people track cases and shun places where infected people have been.
Identities were not published but the information that was enabled web developers to build detailed maps tracking the movements of patients.
Those in quarantine are monitored through a mobile app. People who breach self-isolation rules will be made to wear an electronic wristband, according to local media reports.
AUSTRALIA
Australia rolled out an app already used in Singapore to improve contact tracing by detecting whether people had spent more than 15 minutes with others who may have been infected.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said downloading the smartphone software would initially be voluntary, but declined to rule out making its use compulsory.
INDIA
In May India ordered all public and private sector employees to use a government-backed contact tracing app that uses Bluetooth and GPS technology to alert users who may have come in contact with people who later test positive for COVID-19.
Earlier, people suspected of having the coronavirus in India have received hand stamps and are being tracked using their mobile phones and personal data to help enforce quarantines.
Government officials also pulled out citizen and reservation data from airlines and the railways to track suspected infections.
The southern state of Karnataka asked people in home quarantine to upload one selfie an hour to a phone app during daytime to confirm their whereabouts, according to local media reports.
SINGAPORE
Singapore, which has been using police investigators and security cameras to help track suspect carriers, launched a contact-tracing smartphone app to allow authorities to identify those who have been exposed to people infected with coronavirus.
Records of the encounters will be stored locally on each phone and the data will be encrypted. The app will not access other information, such as a user’s location, and its functionality will be suspended after the epidemic subsides.
