To mitigate the epidemic and accurately scan people diagnosed with the virus, countries across the globe are tracking smartphone data. For instance, in Australia, it has become mandatory for all mobile connectivity companies to save at least two years of data of every person, including data regarding his whereabouts, or simply location data.
There is no doubt that this data would be critical in examining the travel history of the person who has tested positive. It would also become easier to spot any phone that has been in close range of the infected person’s phone in the past few months. The owners of those phones can then be screened, irrespective of whether or not they have developed symptoms.
US, Singapore, Poland, Israel and South Korea are some of the other countries that are using smartphone tracking. It is believed that the British government is discussing the possibility of location data tracking with British Telecom, the country’s biggest operator.
A Washington Post report says that the White House is in talks with tech giants like Google and Facebook to effectively track user location data and gain insights from it. Further, reports suggest that most global telecom companies are planning to develop a comprehensive framework that will enable sharing of data on an unparalleled scale.
While there is no denying that the seriousness of the current scenario demands these measures, it is also essential to not completely ride roughshod over privacy. The ramification of these steps by countries and corporations could be ominous for citizen liberty and make surveillance a new normal, even in the most democratic establishments.
What’s worrying is that once the states get control of complete user data, they may consolidate a new database simply for the sake of a more intrusive surveillance system, or behavior adjustment. The ominous possibility doesn’t only end here. Bio-surveillance could emerge as normal. It is our pulse rate, blood pressure and other biological parameters that drastically change when we feel happy, sad and angry. If a government knows what makes a particular person cheerful or gloomy, it can very easily devise strategies for manipulation.