Mass surveillance

Coronavirus could be a ‘catalyst’ for China to boost its mass surveillance machine, experts say

China could use the coronavirus outbreak to boost its mass surveillance capabilities as it looks to technology to help contain the epidemic in the world’s second-largest economy.

The Communist Party has built a vast surveillance state through different methods with technology at its core.

As artificial intelligence and the use of data becomes more advanced, Beijing has found increasingly effective ways to track the Chinese population, including facial recognition.

China is trying to control the spread of the spread of the virus, believed to have first emerged from Wuhan city in Hubei province, which has already killed at least 2,500 people in the mainland.

With over 77,000 coronavirus cases confirmed in China alone, the government has mobilized its surveillance machine, a move experts said could continue even after the virus has been contained.
Drones and QR codes

Beyond using facial recognition to track people, China is also utilizing novel methods based on existing technology.

For example, Chinese state-backed publication Global Times posted a video on Twitter showing a drone with a camera telling people to wear masks.