The officials are also using big data from public transport, telephone operators or even pharmacies, which in some cities are required to register the identity of those who buy certain drugs to detect possible infections.Drones that fly over cities to fumigate and remember that it is mandatory to wear a mask, thermometer cars that patrol the streets and mobile applications where the closest cases are reported: China has used technology like never before to stop the coronavirus outbreak .
For two months now, many citizens of the Asian country have lived, worked and made their purchases almost virtually while the authorities monitor their movements through the data that is stored in QR codes , which indicate whether a person is at risk of contract the virus or if you need quarantine.
In fact, to enter certain places, sometimes even in their own home, citizens have no choice but to get one of these codes with their mobile phones, through popular payment platforms such as Alipay or messaging platforms like WeChat, developed by the giants. Alibaba and Tencent, respectively.
They are already being used in more than 300 cities in the country, and Tencent assures that it already covers more than 800 million citizens.
There is still no national standard and each locality sets different standards, but in Hangzhou (east), getting a green color code means being able to continue living a practically normal life and using all public services; yellow implies a quarantine of seven days, and red, a fourteen.
To get one, you have to answer questions such as whether you have been in the affected areas in the last 14 days, if you have been in contact with deceased people.
Micro data fever
In addition, the authorities are also using big data from public transport, telephone operators or even pharmacies, which in some cities are required to register the identity of those who buy certain drugs to detect possible infections.
Sources close to one of these platforms explained to Efe that they only act as an intermediary between the applications – developed and operated by local governments – and the end user, and that they do not have access to the data collected.
They added that it is “clearly indicated” in the terms of use that it is a service operated by the municipal government and that, to obtain a code, the user must accept that the data be shared with the authorities.
They note that if someone does not agree with this use, they can choose to reject the conditions and not use the application.
Of course, in various cities it is already mandatory to teach a green code to be able to use services such as the subway or, for example, enter some supermarkets, while in some neighborhoods and residential complexes there are control points at which the authorities review them.
Multi-use drones against the virus
Meanwhile, the local press boasts about how China is using its cutting- edge technology to mitigate the outbreak, highlighting news such as the launch of Baojun brand cars equipped with infrared temperature measurement systems, the Global newspaper reported a few days ago. Times.
These cars can accurately recognize people’s faces and measure temperatures from two meters away, with a margin of error of 0.2 degrees Celsius, according to the newspaper.
If someone is found to have a fever, the vehicle issues a warning and points a sensor at the person with the symptom.
And not only cars: several types of robots that are assisting in hospitals, 3D printers -to make molds of the much-needed masks- and even drones that spray from the air to reduce the virus are also being used in the fight against the virus risk of infections.
Drones are also being used to deliver packages, alert authorities of health policies as a loudspeaker and to bring QR codes closer to drivers while they wait at tolls, says the tech magazine Abacus.
Equipped with remote thermal sensors, they also take the temperature from the sky and report possible fever charts on the spot, although some citizens have reported that their diagnoses are not entirely rigorous, the publication adds.
This magazine also ensures that companies like Baidu are publishing maps online where the cases closest to the displayed location are reported and that others like SenseTime are trying to adapt their facial recognition systems to identify (and report) people who do not Wear masks in public places in an effort to ensure their use.
Privacy concern
the use of “big data” has caused some concern among Chinese Internet users.
However, the directive makes no specific mention of its future use, but some provinces like Yunnan (south) have promised that they will destroy all the data collected once the epidemic ends.
And all this happens at a time when the number of people hooked on the Internet continues to grow: online video viewing has increased by 24.3 million, according to Abacus, while applications designed to improve work efficiency have earned nearly 40 million more daily users since the start of the outbreak.
Not surprisingly, e-commerce, telecommuting, remote education and digital entertainment are the clear winners of this crisis, highlighting the rise of online broadcasting of applications such as Kuaishou or Douyin (known internationally as TikTok), where “Streamers” get more attention than ever.
Among the e-commerce delivery platforms, Taobao, one of the largest in the country, has once again created a trend with an application, “Live”, in which farmers show their products to customers directly and interact with them.
New regulation for internet content
Another news that seems to have gone unnoticed these days, dragged by the tide of contagions and deaths from the coronavirus, is the entry into force of a new regulatory code for Internet content, active since last day 1.
One of his articles asks to avoid “commenting inappropriately” on natural disasters, serious accidents and other catastrophes, and recalls that “it is illegal to publish information that spreads rumors and disrupts the economic and social order.”
Although its wording dates back to December 20, a month before the national emergency was declared, some of its provisions could be used by the authorities to control (even more) the flow of information related to the epidemic.
According to the academic Séverine Arséne, associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and author of the book “Internet and politics in China”, the new regulation gathers measures already underway but adds details such as the so-called “negative” or “positive” content lists “and clarifies the responsibilities of users, content service platforms and local and provincial authorities.
In any case, Arséne stresses that “after a period of relative uncertainty about what could be published about the coronavirus, the level of censorship has clearly increased, especially with regard to the political messages of the leaders.”