![]() ![]() The attacks of 11 September 2001 are a pertinent example: the apparatus of today’s surveillance state, hastily established at the time, is still in place.Īt The Correspondent, we’re working closely with our Dutch sister publication, De Correspondent, to take a critical look at new forms of surveillance being introduced around the world. We know from terror attacks and conflict that many of the laws and technologies introduced in the fight against these crises are difficult to retract. ![]() Will surveillance techniques introduced to manage the response to the pandemic be deployed for other purposes?.Will emergency powers be revoked, or quietly extended?.While its wider consequences are likely to reverberate for years, the effect on rights and liberties needs to be investigated: The pandemic has no clear time-line and experts cannot forecast an end date. The sudden roll-out of surveillance technologies on this scale poses an obvious potential threat to civil liberties. Which protocols and regulations govern these technologies, and under which conditions are governments allowed to exercise these new powers?.What are the police or other authorities doing with this data? Is it a trigger for violent enforcement of quarantine or lockdown orders?.How much do we actually know about the way data is collected and used?.The pooling of location data from multiple sources begs some important questions: GPS, for example, does not work well indoors. While the potential sources of information are vast, each technique has its own limitations. It’s possible to track large numbers of people via GPS, bluetooth or using data collected by telecoms companies. The reach and variety of this new surveillance is unprecedented. At the same time, governments monitoring compliance can track people who fail to observe lockdown measures - and take action where necessary. Researchers, for their part, are harnessing the same data to predict the spread of the illness. Greens are mostly free to travel as usual.ĭata about where we go and who we meet can enable healthcare workers to track who has come into contact with the virus, and then warn them to self-isolate. Under a digitalised scoring system, citizens are assigned a colour code: red, yellow or green, according to location, to determine who should be quarantined. , algorithms play a role in vetting suspected infections. Our smartphones have become a key part of the response to the pandemic because they constantly track our location, communicating that information to telecom companies and app providers minute by minute. , people out on the streets must show their ID papers to police robots that patrol the capital city, Tunis, while in theĭrones have been used to enforce lockdowns.Īt least 20 countries are now monitoring their residents’ movements, using a variety of surveillance tools. InĪnalyses location data from all smartphones in the country to assess who may have come into contact with people carrying coronavirus. , more than half a million people use Trace Together, an app that uses bluetooth to keep track of who they were all close to. , citizens have to demonstrate compliance with quarantine by sending in selfies via a special app.
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