Countries are using greater surveillance measures to track Covid-19. What are they tracking?

COVID 19 has undoubtedly changed the way how the year 2020 should look like.

From lockdowns to indulging in work from home, the virus has scrapped the existence of humankind in the outer world.

Table of Contents

1 . List of surveillance measures taken to track COVID 19

2 .Benefits of VPN for better data security

The higher authorities across the globe understood that the only way to eliminate the virus is to identify who has it in the first place. Imagine tracking down all of the infected patients and treating them on priority?

The focus would be more on recovery and with that happening on time, a country or city or state can easily reduce the virus. Having said that, the population of each country is vast and with time it continues to increase, so how can one manage to keep a count for every individual?

That is when the higher authorities of different countries decided to intervene in the private lives of those individuals, from tapping their smartphones to detecting their movements, there is a list of practices that are being followed in several countries in order to keep a close eye on every individual.

What are they?

Let’s find out right away.

List of surveillance measures taken to track COVID 19

1 . In South Korea, the details of the patients’ whereabouts are identified. They are tracking down the smartphones of its citizens and have also created a map that can help their citizens understand whether they have come to terms with any coronavirus patients. The tracking is also taking place with the information on the citizen’s credit card details and also virtual communications are taking place to identify how the citizens are getting infected.

Interesting Read : 13 brillant hacks to make your ‘Work From Home’ efficient and well balanced

Using such a tracking measure, the government in South Korea is ensuring that messages are too being received so that the citizens are always aware to remain safe and adhere to the rules.

2 . In Iran, an app had been launched to detect whether their citizen had the virus or not. The app was named ‘AC19’, where the citizen can just answer a few questions with yes or no and they would be able to understand whether they require medical assistance or not. News has it that the app has been eliminated.

3. In Israel, the government’s presence is keeping a track of its citizens by spying on them via their phones, so that they will be able to understand if a citizen has the virus or not. Not many would open up and tell of them affected hence with the spying on their smartphones, the government aims to get that information via their data. The government has also stated that the data will be erased after 30 days too.

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4. In Singapore, the government has released an app called ‘Trace together’ where with the help of wireless Bluetooth technology, they could detect if a citizen has come to meet any infected patients within 30 minutes of their stepping out or even within a 2m distance. This could help Singapore to cater to the problem at the initial stage immediately before it can go worse, hence saving more lives from danger.

5. In Taiwan, the government is tracking citizens who are supposed to stay at home and are infected. Many of the citizens want to come outside which can cause huge damage as the virus can be spread. To prevent this from happening, Taiwan has released a solution called ‘electronic fence’ where with the help of mobile phone data, such users can be tracked and prevented.

6. In Austria, the solution being used there is to track the footsteps of the citizens in popular tourist areas. To track such movements, Austria is depending on anonymous data.

7. In Belgian, the government is using the help of local telecom companies in order to track citizens with anonymous data.

8. In Germany, the government is focused on keeping a track of its citizens’ movements whether they are on a community level or state level.

9. In Italy, the situation has worsened but the government is not giving up on hope. They have partnered with telecom operators so that they can track and collect anonymous location data. Also, in case the citizens violate any of the lockdown rules, a fine will be charged as well.

Interesting Read : Grasp accurate Coronovirus data with LimeVPN

10 . In the UK too the talks of tracking data are being spoken about, hopefully, relevant measures will be applied soon.

While all these measures are great in helping to identify the infected ones and curing them quicker, there is a risk attached as well. The risk of personal information being viewed. The rules have stated that the data will be erased, but how confident can one be?

This is why it is important that once the tracking is conducted, investing in a reliable solution to safeguard your information is important.

Benefits of VPN for better data security

VPNs stand for Virtual Private Network. They are solutions that can safeguard your information better. No matter what actions you want to conduct online or have data stored online, with the use of a VPN you can easily stay risk-free.

So say for instance you view certain websites that are restricted, with the help of a VPN you can do the same only more anonymously. No one will ever know your actions because none of your information such as IP address or any other data is revealed.

Interesting Read : What is the importance of Data Security for Business?

Your information is crucial and it needs to be protected because for every citizen’s privacy is mandatory and with the use of reliable solutions such as VPN your security for your data is secured. 

The Bottom Line…

The COVID 19 crisis will disappear but it is going to take time. 

Your government is doing what they can to safeguard you, yes the measures are strict but it will help them to cure the infected sooner.

When this is all over, your information might be deleted or maybe the trace might be still present, with the investment of a good VPN service, you can continue to secure your data better.

So, what do you think? If we have missed your country, do let us know what are the measures being taken for your safety?

Rachael Chapman

A Complete gamer and a Tech Geek. Brings out all her thoughts and love in writing blogs on IOT, software, technology etc