Covid-19: Privacy rights may become next victim of killer pandemic

An official shows a bracelet and complementary tracking app that will be given to inbound travelers requiring compulsory home-quarantine in Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong ordered people arriving from overseas to wear tracking bracelets, and Singapore has a team of dedicated digital detectives monitoring those living under quarantine. — Bloomberg

WASHINGTON: Digital surveillance and smartphone technology may prove helpful in containing the coronavirus pandemic — but some activists fear this could mean lasting harm to privacy and digital rights.

From China to Singapore to Israel, governments have ordered electronic monitoring of their citizens’ movements in an effort to limit contagion. In Europe and the United States, technology firms have begun sharing “anonymised” smartphone data to better track the outbreak.