Editor's Note – As the technological realm becomes more pervasive, whom can we trust? Each week, Liberty Nation brings new insight into the fraudulent use of personal data, breaches of privacy, and attempts to filter our perception.
As the Coronavirus subsides in China, cities are coming out of lockdown, including the epicenter of the outbreak, Wuhan. The return to normal life – if such a thing is possible – is slow, but the authorities have developed software to make sure people are kept in (or out of) the right places. Hundreds of regions across the country are employing the Health Code software, installed into the widely used Alipay (payment) and WeChat (social media) apps. After each individual submits their national ID number and fills out a brief questionnaire, they are assigned a color-coded health status. Red (uh-oh, you likely have the virus), yellow (you have come into contact with a virus carrier and should be in quarantine), or green (all clear). The police were instrumental in developing the software; as Business Insider put it: "This means the apps are providing the technology and access to the health programs, but local governments are creating the database and issuing the health codes."
An estimated 10,000 people flew out of Wuhan as soon as the city's lockdown ended. Thousands of others booked train tickets out of town, or drove away like bats out of hell – but none have been allowed to travel unless given a green health status indicating they do not carry the disease.
The software was developed and first introduced in the city of Hangzhou, a popular domestic tourist destination. Beijing soon followed and from there on it spread across the country – and the concept perhaps internationally.
Not only does a red or yellow classification prevent people from traveling around the country, but they can also prevent one from riding the subway, entering a workplace, apartment building, or public place. It is already standard for bags to be checked when entering the subway, but now passengers must also show attendants their green health status.
Wu Shenghong, a 51-year-old Wuhan resident, freed from quarantine, told Time magazine that people with red and yellow codes "are definitely not running around outside." She added: "I feel safe." A Shanghai resident who self-isolated while visiting a province near Wuhan, meanwhile, told the U.K.'s Channel 4 News the information might not be reliable:Effectively, the app is required now to do anything in many places. Here's what it looks like trying to get onto the subway in Hangzhou. Overnight the city went from lockdown to relying on the app. If your code is green, you can ride. If you're given yellow or red, you're stuck. pic.twitter.com/rettbnhbWW
— Paul Mozur 孟建国 (@paulmozur) March 2, 2020
"Our office building here, you need to register. You need to show the code to demonstrate that you're healthy. So, when I was red there was no way I could go to the office and work. I didn't do anything, then after two or three days I looked and suddenly it was green. I don't know why. But I think that although it's not really reasonable, it is still a preventative measure."Health data is not the only thing the software may be collecting. It functions mostly based on users' location and travel information. Shanghai-based Paul Mozur, reporting on technology for The New York Times, revealed it not only assigns data, but also collects it:
"We actually looked at the backend code that the app was running and what you could see is the moment the user gives it permission to access data, it immediately sends a function that says 'report info and location to police.' And then we looked into it, and the police were a key developer of the product as well. And so from that you can tell that the data is basically being sent back to the police, the moment somebody actually uses the app."The move has been widely criticized in the Western press, with many questioning the increased surveillance and human rights implications of the tracking. "The coronavirus outbreak is proving to be one of those landmarks in the history of the spread of mass surveillance in China," commented Maya Wang, a China researcher for Human Rights Watch.
