A government app that used digital bar codes to control citizen movements at the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in China is likely to become a fixture in people’s daily lives.
A government app that used digital bar codes to control citizen movements at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in China is likely to become a fixture in people’s daily lives.
Local authorities would then cross examine the information with financial and transport data collected by various departments, such as users’ past bank card transactions and public transport they had used. A person assigned a green code could leave their home to ride on subways, access public buildings, and go to work when it resumed in February, while those with yellow or red codes had to self-quarantine for various periods of time.
In the future, Hangzhou’s health commission said it could use the codes to assign a health status based on people’s digital medical records, including the results of health check-ups and lifestyle habits, such as how many cigarettes they smoke, steps they walk, or hours they sleep daily. It will also use more colors, ranging from green to deep purple.
“Hangzhou health code is getting extremely black mirror-esque…” tweeted Chenchen Zhang, an assistant professor of politics and international relations at Queen’s University Belfast. “…It’s not known yet what this ‘score’ can do. Just the latest [example] of governing by quantifying everything in China.”
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