Technology vs Coronavirus

At the epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak, China is deploying its technology to battle the epidemic.

From robots identifying symptoms, monitoring the spread of the virus and delivering provisions to those in isolation, we have been tracking what’s being used, whether its effective and the privacy issues resulting from the sharing of personal, sensitive data.

Healthcare

AI is being used to diagnose the virus and in the development of a vaccine. The Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba has reported that its AI diagnosis system has a 96% accuracy rate in identifying the virus and has been described by the newspaper China Daily as helping to "contain the spread of the spread of the virus, thus becoming one of the most reliable and trustworthy means of combating Covid-19.”

Drones

Drones are playing an important role in China, with tech company MicroMultiCopter deploying its drones to conduct thermal imaging to identify people with fevers as well as transporting goods such as medical supplies into affected areas.

Automated Deliveries

Several Chinese tech firms have also deployed automated technologies for the delivery of supplies to those in isolation, spraying disinfectants and other cleaning functions to limit the risk of human to human transmission.

Surveillance

Its estimated that there’s one CCTV camera for every 4 people in China, so the widespread use of surveillance to manage the outbreak is unsurprising. It’s reported that surveillance is being used to ensure that infected individuals are remaining in quarantine or isolation as advised, as well as monitoring mask wearing.

Facial recognition cameras are also being used to scan crowds to ensure face masks are being worn as well as identifying fevers.

In stations, schools and other public areas in big cities including Beijing and Shanghai, temperature detection software is also being deployed to identify fevers.  

A report from the Chinese newspaper Global Times revealed that officials in the city of Chengdu were equipped with “smart helmets” that are capable of measuring the temperature of anyone in a 5-mile radius.  An alarm is sounded if anyone in the vicinity is recorded with a fever.

Tracking Apps

Apps are also being used to advise whether individuals are able to use public spaces or whether they should be isolating or quarantined at home. The app Alipay Health Code assigns individuals a colour code; red, yellow or green depending on their risk level, which then advises each user on how much or little they can travel depending on their risk level.

The developer has reported that the app is being used in over 200 cities across China.

Social Media

Last week, Facebook announced that it was working hard to remove “false claims and conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global health organisations” and will be blocking adverts from those trying to “exploit the situation”. We know this includes adverts for face masks which are being removed in an attempt to dissipate the anxiety and panic caused by the current situation.

Facebook have also inserted posts into users newsfeeds directing them to the relevant Covid-19 page on the Centres for Disease Control website, and have granted the World Health Organisation free use of the platform for advertising to promote accurate information.

Other social media platforms have followed suit, with Twitter and Pinterest last week ensuring that search results for the virus linked only to credible, internationally recognised health sources.  

Privacy issues

Naturally, the wide scale use of technology has promoted concerns about data privacy.

With increased surveillance and technology identifying whether an individual has the virus, there is concern about widespread prejudice and discrimination.

As well as this, many health apps require the exchange of data for users to sign up for example requiring names, national ID and telephone numbers or addresses. There is concern about how this data is being accessed or used by governments and other agencies and how such sensitive information is being safeguarded.  

In South Korea last week, concern was raised over “health alerts” that the population are receiving to their smart phones. Some alerts not only identify the location of infected individuals, but use their location data to track their previous whereabouts so others can see whether they have come into contact with them or the places they have been.