Coronavirus brings China's surveillance state out of the shadows
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
August 13, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2022
Coronavirus brings China's surveillance state out of the shadows

South Asia

Reuters
07 February, 2020, 06:50 pm
Last modified: 07 February, 2020, 06:56 pm

Related News

  • Will US-China tensions boil over?
  • Asian elephants embrace baby boom in China amid enhanced conservation efforts
  • US, Indonesia, Australia hold drills amid China concerns
  • China's sharper focus on military option for Taiwan raises risks with US
  • Hacker offers to sell data of 48.5 mln users of Shanghai's Covid app

Coronavirus brings China's surveillance state out of the shadows

The coronavirus emergency has brought some of that technology out of the shadows, providing the authorities with a justification for sweeping methods of high tech social control

Reuters
07 February, 2020, 06:50 pm
Last modified: 07 February, 2020, 06:56 pm
File Photo: The rising sun is seen behind surveillance cameras near Tiananmen Square before a military parade marking the 70th founding anniversary of People's Republic of China, on its National Day in Beijing, China October 1, 2019. Reuters/Jason Lee
File Photo: The rising sun is seen behind surveillance cameras near Tiananmen Square before a military parade marking the 70th founding anniversary of People's Republic of China, on its National Day in Beijing, China October 1, 2019. Reuters/Jason Lee

When the man from Hangzhou returned home from a business trip, the local police got in touch. They had tracked his car by his license plate in nearby Wenzhou, which has had a spate of coronavirus cases despite being far from the epicentre of the outbreak. Stay indoors for two weeks, they requested.

After around 12 days, he was bored and went out early. This time, not only did the police contact him, so did his boss. He had been spotted near Hangzhou's West Lake by a camera with facial recognition technology, and the authorities had alerted his company as a warning.

"I was a bit shocked by the ability and efficiency of the mass surveillance network. They can basically trace our movements with the AI technology and big data at any time and any place," said the man, who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions.

Chinese have long been aware that they are tracked by the world's most sophisticated system of electronic surveillance. The coronavirus emergency has brought some of that technology out of the shadows, providing the authorities with a justification for sweeping methods of high tech social control.

Artificial intelligence and security camera companies boast that their systems can scan the streets for people with even low-grade fevers, recognise their faces even if they are wearing masks and report them to the authorities.

If a coronavirus patient boards a train, the railway's "real name" system can provide a list of people sitting nearby.

File Photo: Surveillance cameras are seen at Lujiazui financial district of Pudong, Shanghai, China January 15, 2020. Reuters/Aly Song
File Photo: Surveillance cameras are seen at Lujiazui financial district of Pudong, Shanghai, China January 15, 2020. Reuters/Aly Song

Mobile phone apps can tell users if they have been on a flight or a train with a known coronavirus carrier, and maps can show them locations of buildings where infected patients live.

Although there has been some anonymous grumbling on social media, for now Chinese citizens seem to be accepting the extra intrusion, or even embracing it, as a means to combat the health emergency.

"In the circumstances, individuals are likely to consider this to be reasonable even if they are not specifically informed about it," said Carolyn Bigg, partner at law firm DLA Piper in Hong Kong.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Telecoms companies have long quietly tracked the movements of their users. China Mobile <0941.HK> promoted this as a service this week, sending text messages to Beijing residents telling them they can check where they have been over the past 30 days. It did not explain why users might need this, but it could be useful if they are questioned by the authorities or their employers about their travel.

"In the era of big data and internet, the flow of each person can be clearly seen. So we are different from the SARS time now," epidemiologist Li Lanjuan said in an interview with China's state broadcaster CCTV last week, comparing the outbreak to a virus that killed 800 people in 2003.

"With such new technologies, we should make full use of them to find the source of infection and contain the source of infection."

The industry ministry sent a notice to China's AI companies and research institutes this week calling on them to help fight the outbreak. Companies have responded with a flurry of announcements touting the capabilities of their technology.

Facial recognition firm Megvii said on Tuesday it had developed a new way to spot and identify people with fevers, with support from the industry and science ministries. Its new "AI temperature measurement system", which detects temperature with thermal cameras and uses body and facial data to identify individuals, is already being tested in a Beijing district.

File Photo: Security personnel wearing masks walk along the Financial Street in central Beijing, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, February 3, 2020. Reuters/Jason Lee
File Photo: Security personnel wearing masks walk along the Financial Street in central Beijing, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, February 3, 2020. Reuters/Jason Lee

SenseTime, another leading AI firm, said it has built a similar system to be used at building entrances, which can identify people wearing masks, overcoming a weakness of earlier technology. Surveillance camera firm Zhejiang Dahua <002236.SZ> says it can detect fevers with infrared cameras to an accuracy within 0.3ºC.

In an interview with state news agency Xinhua, Zhu Jiansheng of the China Academy of Railway Sciences explained how technology can help the authorities find people who might be exposed to a confirmed or suspected coronavirus case on a train.

"We will retrieve relevant information about the passenger, including the train number, carriage number and information on passengers who were close to the person, such as people sitting three rows of seats before and after the person," he said.

"We will extract the information and then provide it to relevant epidemic prevention departments."

World+Biz / Top News

china / Coronavirus / surveillance

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Ctg megaprojects get costlier from rising dollar, faulty plan
    Ctg megaprojects get costlier from rising dollar, faulty plan
  • Salman Rushdie. Photo: BBC
    Salman Rushdie may lose eye, is on ventilator, his agent says
  • Not easy to have a meal of fish, egg, meat these days
    Not easy to have a meal of fish, egg, meat these days

MOST VIEWED

  • Flags of India and China. Photo: Collected
    India sticks to 'one-China' policy stance but seeks restraint on Taiwan
  • FILE PHOTO: A vendor sorts tomatoes as he waits for customers at a vegetable market in Mumbai, India, June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui
    Retail inflation in India dips to five-month low in July
  • A motorist passes by a mural of frontline workers against coronavirus at RK Puram in New Delhi on July 25. Delhi’s Covid-19 recoveries have outstripped new cases on almost all days this month barring a few exceptions, after ramped-up containment and testing efforts over the past month or so. (Sanchit Khanna / HT Photo)
    Delhi to enforce mask mandate again after spurt in Covid cases
  • Influential cleric Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani. Photo: BBC
    Taliban cleric killed in blast in Kabul
  • FILE PHOTO: Sri Lanka&#039;s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa presents his national statement as a part of the World Leaders&#039; Summit at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain November 1, 2021. Andy Buchanan/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
    Sri Lanka's ousted president arrives in Thailand for temporary stay
  • India&#039;s Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar. Photo: HT
    Jagdeep Dhankhar takes oath as 14th Vice President of India

Related News

  • Will US-China tensions boil over?
  • Asian elephants embrace baby boom in China amid enhanced conservation efforts
  • US, Indonesia, Australia hold drills amid China concerns
  • China's sharper focus on military option for Taiwan raises risks with US
  • Hacker offers to sell data of 48.5 mln users of Shanghai's Covid app

Features

Will US-China tensions boil over?

Will US-China tensions boil over?

15m | Panorama
Some species of mantises resemble flowers, with just one exception — they hunt. Photo: Collected

Mantis memoir: A master predator

22h | Earth
Bye bye! Photographer: Michael Zarrilli/Getty Images North America via Bloomberg

Three major takeaways from the FBI search on Trump’s home

1d | Panorama
Photo: Noor A Alam/TBS

Big dreams in small rooms: The aspiring nurses of Geneva Camp

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

The ship that was sunk to kill a journalist

The ship that was sunk to kill a journalist

14h | Videos
What's next after searching Trump's house

What's next after searching Trump's house

23h | Videos
Dollar rate increasing in open market despite various initiatives by central bank

Dollar rate increasing in open market despite various initiatives by central bank

23h | Videos
Salimullah Khan on Joddopi Amar Guru

Salimullah Khan on Joddopi Amar Guru

1d | Videos

Most Read

1
Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 
Banking

Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 

2
Photo: Collected
Transport

Will Tokyo’s traffic model solve Dhaka’s gridlocks?

3
Diesel price hiked by Tk34 per litre, Octane by Tk46
Energy

Diesel price hiked by Tk34 per litre, Octane by Tk46

4
Representational Image. Photo: Collected
Bangladesh

Air passengers should plan extra commute time to airport: DMP

5
Arrest warrant against Habib Group chairman, 4 others 
Crime

Arrest warrant against Habib Group chairman, 4 others 

6
File Photo: State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid
Energy

All factories to remain closed once a week under rationing system

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]