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China's Virus Tracking Technology Sparks Privacy Concerns

Joyce Huang

   While battling a new cluster of COVID-19 infections, authorities in
   Beijing have been quick to make use of geo-spatial information,
   collected through mobile tracking devices in people's smartphones to
   identify and isolate potential virus carriers.
   The technology, enabled by the device's built-in global positioning
   system, has helped officials locate hundreds of thousands of people who
   might have been to the Xinfadi wholesale food market after late May --
   the possible ground zero of the latest coronavirus outbreak.
   As of Sunday, authorities have confirmed a total of 236 new COVID-19
   patients and 22 asymptomatic patients, many of whom are related to the
   market, Beijing's health commission said in a press statement Monday.
   Prior to the latest outbreak, China had accumulated more than 83,000
   confirmed cases countrywide in the past six months, government
   statistics showed.
   Geo-spatial data
   Thanks to the location data, more than 700,000 people at risk of
   alleged exposure to the market were said to have been notified, given
   or arranged to be given tests just days after the Xinfadi market was
   closed on June 13, local media reported.

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