China has taken some drastic actions to curb the spread of the Coronavirus, such as lockdowns of entire cities and the results have been fruitful. Similar solutions would be unthinkable in the U.S. and other countries. Unbeknownst to many in the U.S., China has also been deploying some technology solutions that would be deemed unthinkable in the U.S. and other countries.
A smartphone app was launched sometime around Feb 11 as a pilot in a few provinces, now the program is going nationwide this week. Developed by Alipay and also accessible over WeChat, the app takes inputs from users and assigns a colored QR code to each user, based on factors like health and travel history, duration of time spent in infected areas and proximity to potential carriers of the virus. A green code means that the user can move around with relative freedom, while those with yellow or red badges must self-quarantine. Various checkpoints around the nation will require a green code to permit people to pass through.
On the positive side, this would prevent those at risk of infecting others from mingling in public places with others allowing healthy individuals to go about their daily work with more confidence; on the negative side this creates the potential for state surveillance at a scale never seen before. Also, it has the potential to disrupt lives since the algorithms to assign the QR codes are not perfect and there is the danger of hacking and of nefarious ways to beat the system.
Here is some more info on the mobile app and how it works —
- To register, individuals provide their name, ID number, phone number. The health-rating platform asks a series of questions, including physical health condition and whether the individual has traveled to virus-hit areas or has come into contact with infected cases, to produce an initial rating.
- Although user information is self-reported, public data is used for verification purposes. Facial recognition is also used to check identity. There probably are some severe penalties for providing false information.
- The QR code is calculated based on factors like travel history, duration of time spent in an outbreak-stricken area and relationships to potential carriers of the virus. The app obviously tracks users’ movements.
- The QR code is refreshed at midnight daily.
- The ratings can change automatically, based on a user’s movement and new reports of infections.
- Apparently, the app sends info to law enforcement as well
- The program will also allow users to check the health codes of others by entering their identity numbers
- Even apartment complexes, businesses and shopping malls are scanning QR codes to control entry into the area.
- Checkpoints and enforcement so far has been uneven, but that will likely change over time.
Drones help speed up QR code scanning at checkpoints. Scan the QR code hanging from the drone and the app registers you for the checkpoint.
www.scmp.com/… points out some privacy concerns and problems -
However, the rush to scoop up even more data to fight the outbreak has led to privacy breaches, especially for residents in the epicentre of Wuhan, some of whom had their names, addresses, daily movements and other personal data leaked on the internet amid the fear brought on by the spread of the disease.
I do not know whether the system provides any feedback as to why a person does not have a green code. Or what protocols are in place to rectify a faulty code assignment.
One can also imagine that the self-quarantine protocol might evolve from self-quarantine to something more intrusive and forceful over time.
And what happens after the pandemic is over?
In case you are wondering what a QR code is, it is the 2-d image like the ones shown below we often see on our smartphones and on merchandise these days. It is a replacement for the old bar-codes.
Other Technology Solutions
This is not the first smartphone based high-tech. solution deployed against the Coronavirus. An earlier app (a precursor to the new one?) allowed citizens to find out if they or people in their vicinity have been exposed to the virus.
South Korea created an app to track foreign visitors.
A mobile app in South Korea allows users to detect if a place has been visited by someone suspected of infection. Clever, but it could give people a false sense of security; it could also be put to malicious use.
And of course there are many other non-intrusive apps that provide Coronovirus-related information and help users communicate with hospitals, healthcare providers and with each other.
E.g., this app for healthcare workers in Nigeria -
And mobile apps for retails payments instead of using (filthy) cash. Although, the practice of using QR codes and mobile apps for payments is quite widespread in China.
Some more coverage
From the Economist -
From NYTimes -
Epilogue
Technology is a dual-edged sword. These apps can be very helpful to the average citizen and to society at large and can help quarantine and isolate those who are infected or potentially infected, thereby limiting the spread of the virus. China’s reported just 129 new infections yesterday; the numbers have been steadily dropping there, while they are rising in other countries. But privacy concerns remain; who wants the government (and potentially non-state actors) to track your every movement? Will the tracking end when the pandemic is over? Can you opt out? One might argue that authorities have the information anyways; privacy exists no more and we might as well make the best use of the tools at hand.
What do you think? Is this a step too far or is this yet another price we have to pay to manage the mess we have created on mother Earth? Will we see such technology deployed here in the U.S. if the situation deteriorates?
Further Reading
- How China is using QR code apps to contain Covid-19 — technode.com/…
- Beijing rolls out colour-coded QR system for coronavirus tracking despite concerns over privacy, inaccurate ratings — www.scmp.com/…
- In Coronavirus Fight, China Gives Citizens a Color Code, With Red Flags — www.nytimes.com/...
- QR Code — en.wikipedia.org/...