It seems that many will follow the path set by China in combating the spread of COVID 19. Russia has developed and plans to release an application for monitoring of citizens who have been diagnosed with coronavirus in an effort to monitor whether they stay at home.
According to government officials, the software is expected to be released today Thursday, as he says the BBC. The move coincides with a broader initiative between European health institutions to set up a network of interconnected monitoring applications. The United Kingdom and Germany seem to be working to provide similar solutions.
Russia's software will initially be distributed to citizens who have tested positive for COVID 19 but have left the hospital. The BBC reports that the app will request access to users' calls, location, camera machine, storage, network information and other data. It will be available for Android as well as for Appliances with iOS.
In February, China launched a similar app that allowed authorities to monitor contacts with people infected with the coronavirus. Subsequent reports indicate that the application was sharing user data with the police
Of course security experts have expressed their concerns, as Russia and any Russia could abuse the application to spy on millions of citizens.
"We are concerned that this app can be used to track the movements of millions of people, because it is a tool for social control," said Tom Fisher, a senior researcher at Privacy International, on the BBC.