Researchers propose method to track coronavirus through smartphones while protecting privacy

Researchers propose method to track coronavirus through smartphones while protecting privacy


As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread, research teams across the globe have been using their time and skills to come up with innovative ways that technology can help us track the illness. 


In the last week, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has surpassed one million, with the hardest-hit countries being the US, Italy, Spain, and Germany. 


China, as the country that first reported cases of COVID-19, is known for being a surveillance state. Citizen ID numbers, data harvesting, cameras, biometrics, and smartphones are all used as tools to create digital profiles of citizens. 


While privacy advocates have watched on in dismay for years, the spy network that has taken decades to build has been instrumental in tracking the spread of coronavirus through the country (whether or not the official infection numbers released are genuine). 


Smartphones and GPS location data have been used to track the movements of citizens, and when combined with facial recognition technology, Chinese organizations have been able to create lists of coronavirus 'high-risk' individuals. 

The chaos caused by COVID-19 has led to Chinese authorities piling on the pressure for private companies to hand over citizen data for "anti-epidemic purposes," as reported by the Financial Times, and while there is fear such requirements could become a permanent fixture of Chinese society -- tightening censorship even further -- governments across the globe are, nonetheless, taking lessons from how China has applied technology to the outbreak. 


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