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China Enlists Tech Titans To Help It Track Coronavirus With Color-Based QR Codes (gizmodo.com) 22

Posted by msmash from the growing-surveillance dept.
In its latest dystopian stab at curbing the spread of COVID-19, the Chinese government has employed two of the biggest tech giants in Asia to help it roll out a nationwide color-based tracking system to keep tabs on those suffering from coronavirus symptoms, according to a new report. From a report: Companies enlisted for this real-life sci-fi movie endeavor to contain COVID-19 -- the World Health Organization's name for the deadly coronavirus behind this global health emergency -- include Alibaba Group Holdings, Asia's largest digital advertising, e-commerce, and cloud platform as well as Tencent Holdings, one of the world's largest video game companies and the force behind the popular messaging app WeChat. As part of a collaboration with Beijing, Alipay, a payment app operated by Alibaba's subsidiary Ant Financial, recently released a new feature that sends a color-based QR code to individuals via smartphone based on their answers to an online health survey. Depending on what symptoms they've been experiencing or whether they've traveled recently, they're assigned one of three colors that's tied to their ID number. Green means the user can travel freely; yellow prompts instructions for the user to remain quarantined for seven days; and red -- used in the most severe cases -- carries a 14-day quarantine period and instructs users to regularly check-in via an Alibaba chat app.
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China Enlists Tech Titans To Help It Track Coronavirus With Color-Based QR Codes More

China Enlists Tech Titans To Help It Track Coronavirus With Color-Based QR Codes

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  • ... after the pandemic is over... /s

  • Should I be concerned with how this might affect my social credit score?

    More seriously though, what are the odds that people answer honestly? I could see plenty of teenagers using this a golden opportunity to ditch a few weeks of school and plenty of other jackasses that do just the opposite. Maybe if people felt like they could trust their government, but if I were Chinese citizen I wouldn't touch this at all.

    • Um, if you use this to skip school you would be very stupid. This isn't the West. If you are "red" then they will come drag you out of your house in the middle of the night if it gets bad enough. People don't understand what goes on in China.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by aliquis ( 678370 )

      Should I be concerned with how this might affect my social credit score?

      More seriously though, what are the odds that people answer honestly?

      I don't see why simply having symptoms / being affected should affect your social score long-term.

      If you lie about it then I can definitely see how it can affect it though. So... That may be a strong reason for people to answer honestly. Just like the lack of impact is a strong reason for the robberies and rapes here in Sweden.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      Good Communists know they have to answer honestly. They have to study and prove they understand what their role in gov is.
      Dont put in the work to study Communist history and leadership after work? Thats in a report to gov about the wrong use of time after work.
      A reward to report people to the Communist gov keep things working as they should.
      Social credit goes down for the people who are not good Communists.
      Rewards for the good Communists who reported bad people.

      As a citizen who got health care, educ

  • QR codes are hard for people to read. They should triage people with some symbols, you could use a yellow star for those most severe of cases, pink triangle for those at risk, black for those people speaking badly about the government...

  • Any good way in the West to differentiate deaths from coronavirus from deaths from dissent syndrome for these 'reds'?

    • Any good way in the West to differentiate deaths from coronavirus from deaths from dissent syndrome for these 'reds'?

      I thought that dissent syndrome was easily diagnosed by a 9mm cranial hemorrhage.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Companies enlisted for this real-life sci-fi movie endeavor to contain COVID-19 -- the World Health Organization's name for the deadly coronavirus behind this global health emergency -- include Alibaba Group Holdings, Asia's largest digital advertising, e-commerce, and cloud platform as well as Tencent Holdings, one of the world's largest video game companies and the force behind the popular messaging app WeChat.

    That's one sentence. Who writes like that? That's how you write when you don't want to be understood.

  • The WHO doesn't get to name viruses, scientists do; it's called "SARS-CoV-2".

    COVID-19 is the (stupid) name for the clinical manifestation of it (like HIV vs AIDS) because China has the WHO in it's pocket and doesn't want people to think it's novel and not just a mutant form of the virus that has to do with the filthy living conditions in the country.

  • Let me know when the mandatory red, white and blue bar code tattoos come available. I'll tattoo it on my middle finger so they understand my contempt loud and clear.

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