Just as the 9/11 attacks hastened the spread of mass surveillance, so the COVID19 crisis promises to do the same. It’s not that extraordinary measures aren’t necessary. It’s that governments always use crises to expand their powers. Mass surveillance did not prevent terror attacks. It may not work against the virus.
Here are some links courtesy of JP Sottile’s excellent NewsVandal newsletter that suggest where we are going.
- From the American Conservative: Israel Joins Totalitarian States Using Coronavirus To Spy On Citizens
- From Meduza, the independent Russia news site: Using surveillance cameras, Moscow police count more than 200 people at risk of carrying coronavirus who have violated home-quarantine
- From Vice: Surveillance Company Says It’s Deploying ‘Coronavirus-Detecting’ Cameras in U.S.
- From NextWeb: The US wants to track your phone’s location data to help limit the spread of coronavirus
- From CNET: US waives potential health privacy penalties during coronavirus crisis
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