The Chinese government has launched an application that warns citizens if they have approached someone infected with the coronavirus
With the death toll in China continuing to rise from the coronavirus, the country's government has activated all the tools at its disposal for massive surveillance of all its citizens. More attention has been paid to those citizens who are in movement, in order to try to slow the spread of the disease.
For this purpose, he released an application for mobile phones which informs them users if they have been found or are close to someone infected with the coronavirus
This application is called "close contact detector" and as reported by the state news agency Xinhua, Chinese citizens can have access σε αυτή με τη σάρωση ειδικού code QR through well-known applications such as WeChat and QQ. After scanning the code, the user you will be taken to a form where you can enter your name, phone number, and government-issued identification number. The app will then inform the user if they have been in close contact with someone infected or suspected of being infected with the coronavirus
The app defines "close contact" as people who were on the same plane or train as an infected person, people who work in the same office or attend school in the same class, people who are in close proximity to medical personnel or family members who were around those who were infected with the virus. If the app notifies the user that they have been in close contact with someone infected with the coronavirus, then it advises them to stay home and contact the authorities immediately healths.
The "close contact detector" application was developed jointly by government agencies and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation and supported by health authorities and transport.
While the app has its advantages and looks like it can at least help prevent the spread of the disease, it is also a worrying reminder of how closely China monitors its citizens, knowing so much about them, that it can comfortably say that someone was on the same train or at the same doctor as someone else.
By extension, we cannot but think that the already existing technology μπορεί άνετα να μας φέρει αντιμέτωπους με ένα big brother, and how right he was George Orwell when he wrote in 1984.