The coronavirus surpassed the figure of 1,000 fatalities in China, where they fight against its spread.
The latest effort in that country has been the launch of a mobile app that allows people to check if they have been at risk of contracting the disease.
The ‘close contact detector’, as the tool is known, informs users if they have been in the vicinity of a person with the virus or with suspicion of having acquired it.
When users register the application on their phones, they are asked to enter their name and personal identification number. Each registered number can be used to verify the status of up to three other identification numbers.
Registration is done by reading a QR code that can be run from other applications such as Alipay and WeChat, the popular Chinese messaging app.
The tool was developed by government departments and the China Electronic Technology Corporation. The data was supplied by transport and health authorities, according to the state news agency Xinhua.
It is public knowledge that China applies sophisticated surveillance systems on its citizens, however, some experts suggest that in this specific case they are not controversial within the country.
Carolyn Bigg, a lawyer for the DLA Piper firm in Hong Kong, told the BBC that “in both China and Asia, data is not seen as something that should be blocked, but as something that can be used as long as it is done. transparently, with consent ”. “From a Chinese perspective, it is a really useful service for people. It is a powerful tool that shows how information can be used to do good, “added Bigg.
