State Surveillance in the Age of Covid

Digital Rights Explored: Local Fights, Global Perspectives

In the face of the global pandemic, many countries have imposed different control measures on their citizens under the veil of curbing the further spread of the virus. In this episode we will discuss with Agnes Venema - an expert on national security and emerging surveillance technology - measures taken in Australia during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Australia is a country that took perhaps one of the strictest measures globally in containing the spread of the virus. With closed international borders, constant lockdowns, rigorous home quarantine, and no movement between the different states, they managed to keep the infection numbers low.

Recent events have sparked some controversy on their approach to keep an eye on their population. One of them is the Covid Home quarantine app introduced by the government in South Australia. Promoted as a voluntary app, we find out that this app is not that voluntary as the government likes its citizens to believe. The app uses geolocation tracking and facial recognition software sparking a human rights discussion, when it comes to the protection of citizen’s privacy.
In the second part of the episode we talk to Masa Borak, digital technology reporter in Hong Kong. Masa talks about the facial recognition technology used for tracking the Muslim Uighur minority in province Xinjiang, China. Furthermore we discuss different government approaches when it comes to Covid contact tracing, looking at both China and Hong Kong.
*For more information on the systemic tracking of Uighurs in China read this article.
Please join us at the Internet Governance Forum, online or on location in Katowice (Poland, 6-10 December), for a Live Recording of our Podcast where we will continue this discussion, Internet For All But Privacy For Me.

Our expert speakers featured in this episode are:
Agnes Venema - expert on national security and emerging surveillance technology & legally trained in human rights
Masa Borak - technology reporter, Hong Kong
Steven - testimonial from South Australia

This episode was created by:
Host and editor: Alexandre Amaral
Producer: Ena Omerović
Co-producer: Agnes Venema
Consultant (partner Deutsche Welle Akademie): Hanna Hempel
This is a Podcast made by the Media and Information Literacy Expert Network (MILEN) with the support of Deutsche Welle Akademie (DW Akademie).

Contact us with questions, comments or your Stories on digital rights' violations at:
[email protected]