Citizens are living their daily lives according to the color displayed on their phone.
Feeling fed up having to stay at home all day, and only getting to the grocery store for some social relief? How about having a cell phone that would prevent you from leaving your home at all?
This is the reality in China. For better or for worse, cities in China have implemented a barcode method on people’s cell phones that communicates their health status. If a person is not deemed to be healthy enough, they cannot go out.
According to a report on CNN, the Chinese government developed the technology in conjunction with two of the country’s largest internet companies-Alibaba (BABA) and Tencent (TCEHY). The app was launched by Alipay on February 11, 2020.
This is the way it works. Chinese citizens need to obtain a health code on their smartphone. This allows them to move around their communities and the country at large.
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To get a code, a person must first create a profile in a digital service. They do so by filling in their personal information, including a national identity number or a passport number, and a phone number. Following this, a person must report their travel history and whether or not they have come into contact with someone infected with COVID-19.
Chinese residents must also then report on their own health. Do they have the symptoms of COVID-19? A fever, or perhaps a dry cough? A complete list of possible symptoms is verified. This information is then reviewed by Chinese authorities and a QR code is assigned to each person.
Color is what matters. If the QR code is green, a person can go out. If it is amber, they cannot travel within their province, and if it is red, they will be treated for the coronavirus and quarantined.
Of course, the system is not without its glitches. Some people are being assigned the wrong codes. They are being forced to quarantine when they need not. Others who are sick could be being allowed to roam about.
The system is, however, likely limiting how much the virus can spread in a country as big as China’s.
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In order to enter into a public space such as a market, a park or an office building, the Chinese must now prove they are healthy enough to do so. They must show their digital health status on their phone to one of many government officials now stationed around the country.
And they system works two ways. It is also used to alert people when they have been around a person who later tested positive for the virus. For example, if someone who seems healthy visits the local mall, and they later fall sick with the coronavirus, they will have to report it on their phone. Those who have visited the mall at the same time can be tracked digitally. These people will receive an amber QR code for a week or so. It will prevent them from going out and from contributing to any further potential spread of the virus.
Is China the only country going this far? Somewhat unsurprisingly, no. According to CNN, Singapore has launched a similar system, as well as Moscow. Japan is also said to be considering the development of an app that would work in much the same way.
Of course, this is a system of social control that would violate citizens’ personal freedoms in the US. It will not be coming to North American shores anytime soon. Just imagine if it did, however.
Americans can be thankful that being able to walk to the local 7Eleven, and go inside, is still an easy thing to do.
