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The Health Code System: or the Reinforcement of New Digital Mass Surveillance Practices

The Health Code System: or the Reinforcement of New Digital Mass Surveillance Practices

The rapid acceleration in the adoption of new technologies during infectious disease surveillance is not new, nor is it only applicable to the contexts of Covid-19. However, the outbreak of the coronavirus has brought a reality that demanded a...
“Hey Siri, are you sharing my private data”: A commentary on the impact virtual personal assistants have on surveillance capitalism and user information consumption

“Hey Siri, are you sharing my private data”: A commentary on the impact virtual personal assistants have on surveillance capitalism and user information consumption

For a digitally immersed society driven by technological developments and innovations, personal voice-controlled virtual assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple Siri have become a crucial component to task completion, user interaction, and information consumption. Virtual personal...
Health Code, a tool to tackle COVID-19 or automatize social control?

Health Code, a tool to tackle COVID-19 or automatize social control?

“Please show your Health Code.” A few months since the COVID-19 pandemic started, almost all public places in China have posted such requests at the entrances. Health Code, a color-based application, is rolled out to control people’s movements and...
Health QR code (system): reasonable data collection or tracking surveillance under the fantasy of Big Data?

Health QR code (system): reasonable data collection or tracking surveillance under the fantasy of Big Data?

Health Code, a personal QR code created by the government of Hangzhou in cooperation with mobile giant Alipay and designed for collecting and controlling the covid-19 cases, was initially launched in Hangzhou on February 11th, 2020 and was widely...

“All I need is your face”: Issues of privacy and security as Apple introduces FaceID.

Apple revealed its latest tech miracle, Iphone X, and alongside came a (not-so) new feature: FaceID. Apple suggests that biometric technology is the solution to security issues and personal identification. But in a data-based economy, more often than not,...
Surveillance through a new way of payment

Surveillance through a new way of payment

A couple of days ago I lost my debit card. At first I thought it was fine because I do not need to use it that often, but after some hours I already noticed that it is quite inconvenient...