World risks permanent surveillance with coronavirus controls

World risks permanent surveillance with coronavirus controls

More than 100 civil society groups urged governments not to use the global coronavirus pandemic as cover for future pervasive electronic snooping but instead
make sure data is erased once the health crisis is over. Hasty initiatives to access mobile phones to trace population interactions and especially infected persons
threatens privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of association.

“Dictatorships and authoritarian societies often start in the face of a threat." UN Special Rapporteur Joseph Cannataci said. "That is why it is important to be
vigilant today and not give away all our freedoms." "We must not sleepwalk into a permanent expanded surveillance state now," cautioned Rasha Abdul Rahim,
deputy director of Amnesty International's tech division.

HRW said — just weeks into the pandemic — 14 nations were using applications to trace carriers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus or enforce quarantines. And some 24
countries already used telecommunications for location tracking.

China's blanket "health code" tracing in Wuhan, the city where the virus is said to have been first passed on to humans, has parallels in South Korea — where
maps emerged tracing patients — and Singapore. Voluntary usage has been encouraged in other nations such as Austria, where an app called "Stopp Corona"
has been downloaded 130,000 times.

Users are told they will be notified if later one of their contacts contracts the virus. Austria's Justice Minister Alma Zadic dismissed privacy concerns, saying she
would download the app herself. In Israel, 1.5 million people have downloaded "HaMagen," an app that alerts users if they have crossed paths with a coronavirus
patient. "We need to make sure all Israelis have the app," said Morris Dortman, deputy director general of Israel's Health Ministry.

Q1 In which city was the virus first said to have been passed on to humans?

A Beijing
B Shanghai

C Wuhan

D Hangzhou

Q2 Hasty initiatives to access mobile phones to race population interactions threatens what?

A Privacy

B Freedom of expression

C Freedom of association

D All of the above

Q3 In which country has the “Stopp Corona” app been downloaded?

A Hungary

B Austria

C Switzerland

D Germany

Q4 How many countries are tracing carriers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus?

A 24
B 14

C 42
D 41

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 World risks permanent surveillance with coronavirus controls

ANSWERS:

Q1 In which city was the virus first said to have been passed on to humans?

C Wuhan

Q2 Hasty initiatives to access mobile phones to race population interactions threatens what?

D All of the above

Q3 In which country has the “Stopp Corona” app been downloaded?

A Hungary

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Q4 How many countries are tracing carriers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus?

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A 24

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