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 government has activated all the tools at its disposal for a massive surveillance of all its citizens. It has paid more attention to those citizens who are on the move, in order to try to slow down 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
The app is called "close contact detector" and as reported by the state-run Xinhua news agency, Chinese citizens can access it by scanning a special code QR through well-known applications such as WeChat and QQ. After scanning the code, the user will be taken to a form where they can enter their 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 application defines as "close contact" people who were on the same plane or train with an infected person, people who work in the same office or attend school in the same class, people who are close to medical staff or family members who were around those who had been infected with the virus. If the app notifies the user that they have been in close contact with someone who has been infected with the coronavirus, then they are advised to stay home and contact the health authorities immediately.
The "close contact detector" application was jointly developed 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 help but think that the already existing technology can easily bring us face to face with a big brother, and how right he was George Orwell when he wrote in 1984.
