Covid-19: World risks ‘sleepwalking into surveillance’ with coronavirus controls

A surveillance camera at a metro station in Moscow. Without appropriate safeguards in place, tools deployed to save lives could cause lasting harm to people’s rights, leading civil society organisations, including Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Privacy International, said in a statement. — AFP

TBILISI: Digital surveillance rolled out to curb coronavirus should be limited in time and scope, more than 100 rights groups said on April 2, warning governments not to use the crisis as cover for pervasive snooping.

From facial recognition to phone tracking, governments are turning to technology to trace infections and keep tabs on the population as they enforce lockdowns, curfews and quarantines.