Privacy in China: The Virus via the U-Bahn shaft

Corona Apps in China are ubiquitous. But what data they are collecting from their users and store known. Neither the authorities, they have given in order, yet the companies that have developed, comment in Detail. Against this Background, it is noteworthy that the district administration has confirmed in Beijing now for the first time, officially, that it is using movement data to find possible Infected. According to the official Xinhua news Agency the administrative district of Daxing told that you have contacted with the help of the national mobile service provider, all citizens, which, according to the location data, which have saved the company, after the 30. May have visited the Xinfadi wholesale market in the South of the city. The market is the center of the recent coronavirus outbreak in China, where the capital will now demonstrate how to fight the Virus, without the whole city to a standstill.

Friederike Böge

Political correspondent for East Asia.

The method has, however, a catch: as GPS data are quite inaccurate. Were recorded, apparently, also people who are driven with the U-Bahn under the market through, or on a nearby highway in the past. So anyway, the Xinhua news Agency reported it. It tells the story of a woman Liu, who has been prompted via SMS to go in quarantine. In the text message said that by using "Big Data" had been established that she had been on the Xinfadi market. Chinese local authorities tend to refer to everything as Big Data, which has to do with data, because it sounds innovative. Later, the district administration contacted by phone. Although the woman insured, to be in the area merely by U-Bahn on the road, she was informed that her neighborhood would have to make a Committee, whether or not you should remain at home for two weeks or not.

Similar to the news site Ifeng reports. There it is, the caller of the district administration have said a Concerned: "as Long as you passed in the vicinity of Xinfadi, stopped there, there, a call is made or an App have used it, you will be captured by Big Data and recorded." Although the Affected person told the caller that he had not visited the market, was also asked to stay at home, to a Bus, the CDC didn't pick him up for a corona test. In the Bus, seven other people who also want to not have been on the Xinfadi market, sat. A man drove the children to the animal Park and took the highway that leads to the large market. There is a danger that he was exposed to sure.