Slate: Citing security to silence dissent is always a bad look, but right now the side effects are especially cruel.
As COVID-19 spreads, the internet is center stage. It is the source of everything from rampant lies to crucial information, and it is the great connector that has allowed many people to work from their couches and stay in touch with loved ones while in isolation.
It’s not only individuals and businesses taking advantage of ubiquitous connection; many governments are turning to increased surveillance to monitor and contain the pandemic’s spread. Singapore has developed an opt-in app that uses Bluetooth to monitor close contact among users, while Russia is using facial recognition cameras to watch for quarantine violations. The United States government is in conversation with the private sector about tracking phone location data to better monitor and contain the virus’s spread. The European Data Protection Supervisor even called for a “pan-European model COVID-19 mobile application, coordinated at EU level,” which would aggregate data in harmony with existing EU privacy laws.
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https://slate.com/technology/2020/04/pandemic-internet-shutdown-danger.html