Privacy lost: Appropriating surveillance technology in China’s fight against COVID-19

Abstract

China’s unprecedented measures to mobilize its diverse surveillance apparatus played a key part in the country’s successful containment of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Critics worldwide believe these invasive technologies, in the hands of an authoritarian regime, could trample the right to privacy and curb fundamental civil and human rights. However, there is little domestic public resistance in China about technology-related privacy risks during the pandemic. Drawing on academic research and a semantic network analysis of media frames, we explore the contextual political and cultural belief systems that determine public support for authorities’ ever-expanding access to personal data. We interrogate the longer-term trajectories—including the guardian model of governance, sociotechnical imagination of technology, and communitarian values—by which the understanding of technology and privacy in times of crisis has been shaped. China’s actions shed light on the general acceptance of the handover of personal data for anti-epidemic purposes in East Asian societies like South Korea and Singapore.

Opportunities and Challenges for Construction Health and Safety Technologies under the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chinese Construction Projects

“…The use of QR codes could easily monitor and track the potential contact cases and thus help prevent the spread of the virus on construction sites. However, data and privacy breaches have received grave concern regarding the deployment of the QR code system [ 60 ]. Despite these risks, technological surveillance and tracking measures have positive outcomes in combating the pandemic [ 60 , 61 ].…”

“…However, data and privacy breaches have received grave concern regarding the deployment of the QR code system [ 60 ]. Despite these risks, technological surveillance and tracking measures have positive outcomes in combating the pandemic [ 60 , 61 ]. This is also confirmed by the interviewees of the study.…”

Privacy Without Power: What Privacy Research Can Learn from Surveillance Studies

“…China is an authoritarian state, where surveillance, often facilitated by Silicon Valley companies, is used to maintain the government's authority and quell dissent (Chin and Lin 2022). This has accelerated given the extensive health surveillance systems put in place during COVID-19 (Khalil 2020;Liu and Zhao 2021;Liu 2021). China also has enormous interest in the United States political arena, and academics and journalists have meticulously uncovered Chinese disinformation and influence operations targeting US citizens and institutions (Sabin 2022;Kurlantzick 2022).…”

Implications of COVID-19 for Climate Governance in China: The Rise of an Eco-Surveillance State?

“…It is suspected that these apps access the GPS system on the mobile phone and location data, and that the data are regularly shared with the police [43]. Furthermore, incidents of privacy breaches have been reported where the identity of the infected and their close contacts are released by the government [50].…”