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Content Type: Video
We can’t believe we’re having to say this, but the hours after giving birth are private. If you’re a parent, you may have heard of Bounty, a sales and marketing company allowed access to hospital maternity wards and approach women who have just given birth. This doesn’t happen on any other hospital ward. Can you imagine coming round from major surgery to find a stranger trying to sell you stuff? The physical invasion of privacy is bad enough, but delving into the company’s relationship with…
Content Type: Examples
In response to a case brought by the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah), the Arab Joint List, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction on March 19 limiting the the state's and the Shin Bet security service's use of cellphone surveillance, among others, to track and monitor COVID-19 patients and trace their contacts. The court indicated it will ban the programme unless a parliament oversight committee is…
Content Type: Examples
On March 20, the Peruvian government introduced a website where citizens can retrieve the results of tests for COVID-19. The site asks only for the patient to fill in their National ID number and a simple captcha, making it easy for unauthorised parties to access others' results and put people at risk of exploitation and discrimination.
Source: https://saludconlupa.com/noticias/peru-debilidades-de-plataforma-del-ministerio-de-salud-pueden-exponer-informacion-clinica-de-pacientes-covid-19…
Content Type: Examples
The Romanian government has formally notified the Council of Europe under Article 15, paragraph 3 of the ECHR of the country's state of emergency decree, noting that some of the measures being taken involve derogations from the obligations under the Convention.
Source: https://rm.coe.int/09000016809cee30
Writer: Permanent Representation of Romania
Publication: Official letter
Content Type: Examples
The Local Government Association has argued that councils should not have to comply with freedom of information requests during the coronavirus crisis. Greater Manchester police followed suit, saying that police in non-critical roles were being reallocated to operational policing and would not answer FOI requests "until further notice".
Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/mar/23/uk-coronavirus-live-news-latest-boris-johnson-minister-condemns-people-ignoring-two-metre-…
Content Type: Examples
On March 19, the Peruvian government instituted a daily curfew from 8pm to 5am, which applies to all but those working to provide essential services. Members of the print and broadcast press must carry their special permits, badges, and ID cards, and those requiring urgent medical care are allowed to travel. Private citizens are no longer allowed to drive their own cars at any time except where necessary for the above groups. The law is being enforced by the police and armed forces.
Sources:…
Content Type: Examples
On March 14, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis announced a state of emergency to make it possible to allocate new resources for crisis management, and urged the public to follow isolation guidelines and hygiene rules. The Parliament must approve within five days, and the state of emergency lasts 30 days. The decree allows the government to carry out checks on persons and places, order temporary closures of shops and other public places, halt the distribution of publications or broadcasts, and…
Content Type: Examples
Aided by its small size, Singapore's contact tracing efforts were a key element of controlling the virus's spread; detectives used CCTV footage to locate the contacts of more than 6,000 people. Singapore also contacts individuals required to self-isolate several times a day and requires them to send photographic proof of their location. Breaking quarantine attracts substantial penalties, including jail terms, and in one case stripped an offender of his residency rights. Singapore also quickly…
Content Type: Examples
On March 14 a group of immigrant advocacy groups wrote to the government asking for the Home Office to release all 1,500 to 2,000 detainees in order to protect them from a coronavirus outbreak in the UK's seven removal centres and two short-term holding centres.. On March 21, the Home Office said it had released 300 of the detainees. The charity Detention Action launched a legal action to compel the Home Office to release the most vulnerable detainees and test all detainees. The Home Office…
Content Type: Examples
After 195 US citizens were repatriated from Wuhan, China in January they were placed in quarantine without warning in a cordoned-off section of the Air Force Research Base in California's Mojave Desert. The legal position of this and other similar quarantines is unclear, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have tried avoid judicial review of their actions, which they claim fall under regulations issued in January 2017.
Source: https://papersplease.org/wp/2020/01/31/can-…
Content Type: Examples
To contain the coronavirus, Vietnam focused on aggressive contact tracing, forced quarantines for all people arriving in the country, cancelling all foreign flights, conscripting medical students and retired doctors and nurses, instituting surveillance, and mobilising medical and military personnel as well as its national network of informants. As of March 24, the country had reported 123 confirmed cases and no deaths; as of March 20 the country had tested 15,637 people. About 800 people have…
Content Type: Examples
The US Department of Justice has asked Congress for the ability to ask chief judges to detain people indefinitely without trial during emergencies as one of a number of new powers the department is seeking during the coronavirus crisis. The DoJ also wants Congress to pause the statute of limitations for criminal investigations during national emergencies and for one year following their end, and wishes to change the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure in some cases to expand the use of…
Content Type: Examples
Taiwan, linked by direct flights to Wuhan, moved to contain the virus as soon as reports of the Wuhan outbreak emerged. At the end of January, it suspended flights from China, and integrated its national health database with its immigration and customs information in order to trace potential cases. This enabled the country to send text messages to every phone on the island listing every restaurant, tourist site, and destination passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship visited during shore…
Content Type: Examples
The new Singaporean app, TraceTogether, developed by the Government Technology Agency in collaboration with the Ministry of Health was launched on March 20 after eight weeks of development. The app, which can be downloaded by anyone with a Singapore mobile number and a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone, asks users to turn on Bluetooth and location services, and enable push notifications. The app works by exchanging short-distance Bluetooth signals between phones to detect other users within two…
Content Type: Examples
Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin has ordered the country's Communications Ministry to develop a system, to be built on analysing specific individuals' geolocation data from telecommunications companies that can track people who have come into contact with those who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The data will also be passed to regional-level task forces fighting the virus's spread; officials are also tasked with finding a way to notify those who may have come into…
Content Type: Examples
On March 17, after declaring a state of emergency an ordering everyone to stay at home, the Peruvian government began requiring a special authorisation for street travel. Workers in a the categories specified in Article 4 of the Supreme Decree must obtain the authorisation via a government website. The authorisation process involves cross-referencing with other personal databases to check the accuracy and validity of each application.
Source: https://andina.pe/ingles/noticia-peru-key-…
Content Type: Examples
On March 14, the Peruvian government set up a website for individuals to check their symptoms so they can be directed towards sources of help. The web form asks for ID number, phone, email and home address.
Source: https://www.gob.pe/coronavirus
Writer: Peruvian government
Publication: Peruvian government
Content Type: Examples
Under a new protocol, international passengers arriving at Lime's Jorge Chavez International Airport or by ship at Callao Port, is referred to medical staff if they are arriving from places with confirmed cases, even if they are asymptomatic. Passengers who show symptoms in transit are transferred to isolation areas, where they receive care. The passengers are also required to supply personal information so they can be surveilled over the following days.
Source: https://andina.pe/ingles/…
Content Type: Examples
After Pakistani residents queried whether messages labelled "CoronaALERT" sent out via SMS were legitimate, telecom authorities confirmed that it was authentic, being sent to selected individuals at the request of the Ministry of Health under the Digital Parkistan programme. Individuals were chosen because they might have come in contact with infected individuals during travel or in specific locations. It is not clear, however, what the criteria were for selecting individuals at risk,…
Content Type: Examples
The Dutch coronavirus containment measures introduced on March 23 were in line with many other countries: gatherings banned until June 1 except for funerals and weddings; social distancing; personal services such as nail bars and hairdressers shut down; schools, gyms, fitness centres, and sports clubs closed through April 6; working from home as much as possible. Citizens are allowed to go for walks, but not in groups. Ministers have promised adequate notice in case the restrictions need to be…
Content Type: Examples
To counter the many rumours, fake news, and hoaxes spreading in Myanmar, the country's Ministry of Health and Sports launched a website in collaboration with state and regional governments with videos about the virus, the latest data, and updates on the latest number of cases and lab results in order to raise awareness on how both medical staff and the public and stay safe. The agency share information and collaborates with the Ministry of Transport and Communications to "track down people…
Content Type: Examples
Malaysia will use both government-owned drones and drones borrowed from local industries under the direction of the armed forces and on-the-ground police to monitor compliance with the Movement Control Order. Because Malaysia doesn't have enough drones to cover the whole country, they will be focused on 12 hotspots where people resist compliance.
Source:
https://www.commercialdroneprofessional.com/coronavirus-malaysia-to-use-drones-to-control-public-movement/
https://www.malaymail.com/…
Content Type: Examples
The Indonesian Doctors Association has asked the government to open up the identity of patients who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in order to facilitate contact tracing and improve the efficiency of efforts to prevent further spread, arguing that in an emergency like this the public will support the disclosure in the interests of safety.
Source: https://mediaindonesia.com/read/detail/296992-permudah-kontak-tracing-idi-dorong-pemerintah-buka-data-pasien
Writer: Atalya…
Content Type: Examples
The first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia and their neighbours became the targets of media coverage and social media abuse after their personal details were spread via WhatsApp and other social media soon after the President announced the positive tests results - before anyone told the patients themselves. The Health Ministry denied responsibility for the data breach.
Sources:
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/04/covid-19-patients-become-victims-of-indonesias-lack-of-…
Content Type: Examples
The Hungarian government is seeking to extend indefinitely the state of emergency it has declared because of the coronavirus epidemic. The extension, which was debated in the Hungarian parliament on March 23, would allow the government to rule by decree without parliamentary approval for as long as the government, which has a two-thirds majority in any case, thinks necessary, provide prison terms of up to five years for those convicted of spreading misinformation about the epidemic, and up to…
Content Type: Examples
Technology such as Hong Kong's electronic monitoring bracelets, used to ensure that people do not break their mandated quarantine, may appear reasonable during a pandemic, but could be problematic if deployed widely and used to identify those who have joined anti-government protests. The same applies to emergency legislation such as that passed by the UK government granting the government extraordinary new powers to shut down airports and ban gatherings. History provides examples:…
Content Type: Examples
The Hong Kong Department of Health has asked the police to deploy its computerised Major Incident Investigation and Disaster Support System in order to trace the contacts of patients infected by the novel coronavirus. The request for the system, which was used during the SARS epidemic in 2003, came after 59 police officers were placed under quarantine after a 48-year-old officer they had partied with tested positive.
Source: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202002/22/…
Content Type: Examples
The Greek government issued a ban on all unnecessary traffic from March 23 to April 6 in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Anyone moving around under one of the list of exceptions must carry a police identity card or passport and a certificate of movement, which citizens obtain by filling out an online form (at form.gov.gr), or by filling out a paper form listing the reason for leaving home, or by sending an SMS. Employees are issued a certificate by their employer. The government…
Content Type: Examples
The self-testing web app issued by Argentina's Secretariat of Public Innovation asks for national ID number, email and phone as mandatory fields in order to submit the test. The Android version requires numerous permissions: calendar, contacts, geolocation data (both network-based and GPS), microphone, camera, full network access; change audio settings, run at startup; draw over other apps, prevent device from sleeping.
Sources:
https://www.argentina.gob.ar/coronavirus/app
https://play.…
Content Type: Examples
The free app Testeate, developed by the company Adrómeda in collaboration with the Association of Information and Communication Technologies of Mar del Plata (ATICMA) and the Chamber of Software and Computer Services Companies of Argentina (CESSI) and launched in the Municipality of General Pueyrredón on March 26, is intended to enable direct information exchange between Argentina's National Ministry of Health and the population by offering constantly updated information in any city and…