To combat the coronavirus epidemic, officials in a Chinese city bordering Myanmar have deployed facial recognition technology connected to personal health codes.
In the last five years, China’s government has rushed to install more than 200 million Surveillance cameras to “cover all public areas,” making it one of the world’s most surveilled countries.
In China, which was the first country to deploy a QR code system to register test results and monitor interactions, surveillance has also been widely used to combat COVID-19.
However, this is the first time that face recognition has been used to follow a person’s activities and health state as they enter and depart residential neighborhoods, supermarkets, transportation hubs, and other public locations.
On Saturday, officials in Ruili, Yunnan province, informed reporters that “everyone who comes in and out needs to have their (health) code and face scanned to pass.”
According to data released Tuesday, Ruili found 155 cases in the previous week, making it one of the deadliest viral outbreaks in recent months in China.
In critical places, security technologies like face recognition cameras, smart door locks, and road barricades (managed by police or community volunteers) have been installed, according to local authorities.
According to China National Radio, the scanners can also monitor people’s temperatures.
There are no specifics on how long the database will keep records or whether the system, which is being overseen by the city’s pandemic prevention team, would be shut down once the outbreak is under control.
Privacy related concerns
Ruili, a city of about 210,000 people, is a key crossing point from Muse, Myanmar, which has witnessed growing instability since a February 1 coup, generating worries that people would flee the bloodshed by crossing the Chinese border.
According to the Yunnan Provincial Health Commission, Myanmar citizens accounted for over half of the new cases recorded in the last week, but it was unclear how they reached the city.
When it comes to coronavirus clusters, China has taken a zero-risk strategy.
With strict border restrictions, mass testing, lockdowns, and tie-ups with big tech for surveillance, the illness has been mostly contained since it first surfaced in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019.
However, the proliferation of new health tracking applications has prompted worries about privacy.
According to a New York Times investigation in January, a widely used app monitoring travel history and virus testing produced by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba exchanged data with the authorities.
During the peak of the epidemic, police officers in major cities donned helmets with facial recognition technology and infrared cameras to monitor pedestrian temperatures.
China’s ubiquitous monitoring network has been criticized by human rights groups, who claim it is being used to stifle dissent and target minority, ethnic groups.
Eduindex News 