[New Coronary Pneumonia] What is the price of privacy under the survival crisis of the Special Task Force during the Anti-epidemic War? ｜ 01 Weekly

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Author: Yi Wenjian

2020-04-15 15:00

A major difficulty in combating the outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) is that infected persons can infect others without showing symptoms, so the chain of transmission must be cut early. Early anti-epidemic areas, such as mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong, use technology to obtain and analyze the location and activity trajectories of patients and close contacts on a large scale. Method of isolation from the community.

Monitoring personal health data helps safeguard public health, but this does not mean that governments and technology giants can monitor endlessly. In addition, the use of anti-epidemic technology tools is not without side effects, for example, the public is at risk of being "taken off" and non-patients are unnecessarily harassed. Some organizations have tried to use technology to share their locations without the need to collect user personal information, so as to contact and track. The epidemic has made the question of how to balance privacy and the application of technology more important. The government, the scientific and technological community and the people all have responsibilities to maintain in order to maintain mutual trust.

Using technology to track viral patients or potential virus carriers is considered to be an effective way to trace the infection. The picture shows the electronic bracelet and monitoring strap. (Photo by Government News Network)

As early as the outbreak, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Hong Kong has issued guidelines on the collection and disclosure of quarantine information * , which not only responds to doubts about whether personal data can be accessed under the outbreak, but also brings out a more fundamental message-private Hidden rights are not absolute rights, but the right to survival. The right to survival refers not only to the parties, but also to other people's rights to survival.

* Note: The Privacy Commissioner issued a press release on February 11 in response to media inquiries regarding the use of video calls by the government to determine the status of quarantine persons remaining at the declared location and the latest "starting" status. Section 59 of the Privacy Ordinance exempts health matters related to the public or social interest from being restricted from the use of information; Section 2 of Part II of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 6 states that everyone has a gifted right to exist. This right is absolute and overrides other basic human rights that may conflict with it, including the right to privacy. The right to survival not only refers to the right of survival of the data subject, but also includes the right of survival of others in the society. This principle is particularly important under the epidemic involving public health.

Under this premise, according to the "Privacy Ordinance", the government collects the location information of the quarantined persons and monitors whether they have complied with the isolation conditions. It is reasonable and legal. The government has the right to require the quarantine to provide relevant personal data in accordance with the law. When it is judged that the health of other people is likely to face serious damage, it does not need to obtain the consent of the party to disclose the health of the party to the third party, avoiding violations of the Implicit Regulations. The government has sufficient laws and a reasonable and reasonable basis to use supercomputers to collect and use information obtained online or in physical form to track down the virus patients or potential virus carriers.

Under the epidemic situation, "special affairs" is necessary. In Hong Kong, people diagnosed with viruses concealed the history of outbound travel, resulting in the failure of medical staff to prevent it early and increasing the risk of outbreaks in hospitals. Even though most people are willing to disclose the history of outbound travel and incubation activities, they will always ignore and forget the details, so the government needs to Master more accurate information. The HA has since upgraded its computer registration system to allow medical staff to check patient entry and exit records.

In fact, the data after removing personal data is also very useful in combating the epidemic. For example, companies transferring traffic or transaction records to the government for analysis can help find group infections. The Medical College of the University of Hong Kong and the Octopus reached a cooperation agreement last Thursday (April 2), using the aggregated data of the Octopus of Hong Kong people to estimate the contact patterns of residents in different regions to more accurately calculate the real-time reproduction rate of the new Pneumococcal virus. Commitment information is only used for this research project.

Inland China has made extensive use of high technology to help fight the epidemic, and has adopted the strictest control measures to successfully alleviate the epidemic. (Xinhua News Agency)

Learn Lessons, Isolate and Track, Help East Asia Stop the Spread of Epidemic

The four places in Taiwan, Hong Kong, New Korea, and the mainland of the first epidemic have frequent exchanges, but they can slow down the scope of infection in the early stages of the epidemic. Although there is a second wave of outbreaks, the spread rate is still much slower than that in Europe and the United States. There are many factors worth noting.

First, all localities quickly formulated measures to deal with imported cases. After the Mainland ’s first case was published in the Communiqué at the end of last year, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and New Zealand have already required entry passengers to submit health declaration forms, and have successively restricted entry of mainlanders. Of course, Hong Kong people have repeatedly criticized the smart wristband and electronic bracelet pairing "Gu'an Anti-epidemic" application, which is full of loopholes. For example, one of the wristbands does not have a tracking device, or there have been administrative errors such as the delayed sending of SMS passwords. The government Later, an improved Bluetooth electronic bracelet was dispatched, which is expected to fix the loophole.

Second, the government provides extensive testing to identify those diagnosed as soon as possible. South Korea is a good example in this regard. The outbreak of the local epidemic quickly caused the outside world to worry that it will be out of control. However, the Korean government quickly became concentrating and carried out large-scale testing, setting up a sampling station in the form of a telephone booth to increase the sampling speed and find out Infected.

The Harvard School of Public Health published a research report in February, praising Singapore ’s ability to monitor epidemics and track contacts “near a perfect gold level.” (Reuters)

Singapore ’s performance is not unacceptable. The Harvard School of Public Health published a research report in February, praising Singapore ’s most reliable test method, which can quickly detect confirmed cases from inbound passengers with Chinese travel history, even if other quarantine capabilities High countries also have Singapore's level of less than 40%. The report applauds the country's ability to monitor epidemics and track contacts "close to a perfect gold level."

Third, use mobile phone applications, monitoring and positioning systems, digital foot prints and computer systems to track the past activities and close contacts of diagnosed persons. The new coronavirus is easy to spread. Only by quickly isolating patients and close contacts can the chain of transmission be cut off. The Government Department of Health has borrowed police supercomputers to track down related infection cases; Singapore has set up an inter-departmental anti-epidemic team. After the team actively traces the place where the patient and close contacts meet, they will go from door to door to find the person, and will compare Patient confessions, find out the infection group from the keyword, the authorities use this to find a church infection group, and find that there is a patient related to the Lunar New Year gathering group; South Korea's tracking is further, the government will disclose the address of the patient building And where you have stayed, such as the number and number of transportation you used to travel, supermarkets you have visited, and even the clock hotel.

Fourth, remember the past and the teacher of the future. For Hong Kong and Taiwan, the experience of SARS in 2003 was too painful, so the people quickly equipped themselves after the diagnosis of new coronary pneumonia, strengthened personal, family and community health, and stored protective equipment, spontaneous production network Put on the epidemic map, reduce social interactions, and suppress the initial spread of the epidemic.

Local governments have also learned the lessons of SARS and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Singapore and Hong Kong have established infectious disease centers. Singapore has also set up a new medical school to train medical and medical research talents. South Korea has revised "Infectious Diseases" after MERS. The Prevention and Control Law allows the government to collect data such as mobile phone numbers and credit cards during a national crisis.

The Hong Kong Government distributes smart wristbands to immigrants to monitor whether they have been separated from their homes as directed. (Photo by Luo Junhao)

If the most stringent control of the epidemic is in mainland China, of course, especially Hubei, where the epidemic first occurred. In the two months from the Chinese New Year, mainland residents experienced closures, shutdowns, and community management. During this period, big data and artificial intelligence were used to track patients' specific itineraries. They even dispatched drone broadcasts to require passers-by to wear masks. With the relief of the epidemic, various regions have gradually unblocked and developed a "health code" to determine whether individual citizens can travel to work.

The health code was developed by Tencent and Alibaba. Residents need to register information and account whereabouts through WeChat or Alipay, so their health status is shared with personal information. The health code is divided into three colors: green, yellow, and red, and the level is determined by the provincial government to which the resident belongs. Taking Hubei as an example, those with green codes can pass through the province; those with yellow codes are close contacts under control and will not be released; if the records in the database are confirmed, suspected, fever cases or asymptomatic infections, red will be issued The code is accepted and isolated by the local government.

The health code system not only digitizes individual health status, but also personalizes governance. The health code mainly contains three components: the risk of outbreaks in the towns and villages of the streets, the number and duration of users visiting the epidemic area, and the closeness of the close contacts. This arrangement has a certain effect. For example, the risk of epidemic in a place is reduced, but the risk of people spreading or infecting viruses is different. The health code system can classify people, let some people return to daily life, and let the city return to production. Patients and close contacts can be separated and continue to receive treatment and observation.

The new Coronary Pneumonia virus can be transmitted silently and colorless, so it is extremely important to effectively locate the quarantine, track the infected and close contacts. Even the European and American countries that attach great importance to privacy rights, with the outbreak of the epidemic, public opinion and the government also pay more attention to this aggressive anti-epidemic approach in East Asia, the right of individuals and others to live above privacy rights. However, is this "overriding" unrestricted? Although the anti-epidemic technology brings great benefits, should we all have to bear the possible side effects?

The Korean people have learned the lessons of MERS, so they have no objection to the government's access to and disclosure of patient information to combat the epidemic. (Reuters)

Open information may damage personal programs

As the epidemic invades, the public naturally wants more information and transparency in order to assess risks and increase alertness. The Korean people have learned the lesson that the lack of information led to the failure to prevent MERS in a timely manner, so they have no objection to the government ’s access to and release of patient details in response to the new coronary pneumonia epidemic. However, the move also caused counter-effects such as online bullying and labeling.

Although the information of the diagnosed persons disclosed by the Korean government does not name the surname, netizens can use the Internet, based on age, gender, place of residence, infection route and close contacts, and other people to reveal the identity of the diagnosed person, and then wantonly slander.

A woman who worked in Gumi City, Gyeongsangbuk-do, was diagnosed with New Coronary Pneumonia. Mayor Jang Se-yong (transliteration) revealed the woman ’s surname on Facebook. Residents have left messages asking for public residence. The woman later complained on Facebook that "the psychological pain is greater than "Body hurt", complaining about harassment of family and friends; some infected people have visited foot massage shops and clock hotels. Even if they have not been "started up", they cannot escape the ridicule of netizens. The example of South Korea tells us to absorb and use information sparingly to avoid harm to others.

Looking at the situation in the Mainland, although the health code helps the government to grasp the personal health status of the people, there are also errors from time to time, such as "turning on the green light" for diagnosed patients and "seeing red" for healthy people, which affects the travel and life of residents.

A report published on March 1 in the New York Times quoted a mainlander who lives in Hubei and works in Hangzhou. Her health code without pneumonia showed red, so she could not return to Hangzhou to resume work. The reason may be that she lives in Hubei; the Xi’an government website also saw netizens asking for help at the end of last month, saying that the health code turned red for no reason, and the government personnel subsequently verified the “green return”; the Gansu Provincial Government also announced a case on Hubei on March 29 The "green code" confirmed the case of new coronary pneumonia after entering Lanzhou. The local government hurriedly implemented isolation for the parties and close contacts.

The health code helps the government to grasp the personal health status of the people to prevent the spread of the epidemic, but there are errors in the program, which affects the people's travel. (Xinhua News Agency)

Even though the public understands the calculation principle of the health code, the government has not disclosed the proportion of each component and the calculation method. The outside world cannot know whether it is fair or whether the program has made mistakes. The result of the health code affects people's basic needs such as travel, shopping, and consultation, as well as survival needs. Once the program is wrong, its impact is far greater than the mistakes of ordinary social applications.

In addition, the lack of coordination among local governments in the Mainland has resulted in cross-border unrecognized health codes. On March 27, fierce clashes between police and civilians broke out because the health codes of Hubei and Jiangxi failed to recognize each other. On the same day, people from Hubei Province entered Jiangxi Province through the Jiujiang Bridge, but there was a conflict between the two provinces because of differences in control. First, the provincial police conflict between the two provinces, and then the people of Hubei Province crossed the bridge to surround the Jiangxi Police. . Even though the provinces and cities have realized this problem and accelerated the implementation of cross-regional mutual recognition of health codes, there is still a certain distance away from national exchanges.

At present, there is no officially recognized health code mechanism in Hong Kong and Macao, which prevents residents of the two places from going to the Mainland. Shenzhen has recently requested that Hong Kong cross-border truck drivers must provide additional health certification documents when they enter China from April 10. If the Hong Kong and Macao regions can establish a health code system and communicate with the mainland, they will only need to scan the QR code to clear the border, which will greatly save procedures and time.

Mass collection of privacy data is critical for epidemic management

The epidemic is not at its end, but it will eventually be over. Governments, technology companies, and employers collect massive amounts of public information to analyze and report the outbreak. How to deal with this information after the outbreak will be an important issue, because the health data itself is very sensitive. If it is combined with other personal data, it can be traced back to the personal identity and If his social life unfortunately leaks to the hands of criminals, he may cause significant damage to the individual.

The British Ministry of Health has promised that after the epidemic is controlled, the special new crown virus information platform will be closed, and platform partners such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google will delete the relevant information or return it to the British National Health Service (NHS). Although the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Hong Kong stated that users should delete the data after satisfying the purpose of using the data (such as determining the health status of the target), the police, health and information technology departments have not yet clarified how to deal with the relevant data. Technology and data will undoubtedly help fight the epidemic, but many people have always been concerned about the government ’s large-scale collection of personal data. They are worried that monitoring will become increasingly serious and affect personal freedom. If the government can clearly explain how to handle relevant personal data after the epidemic, I believe it will help relieve the public's doubts.

The British Ministry of Health has promised to shut down the special new coronavirus information platform after the outbreak is under control. (Associated Press)

On the other side, academic institutions are looking for ways to take into account both public health and privacy. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology last month released the mobile app Private Kit: Safe Paths. This program has three characteristics: 1. Whether to choose to use the program or not is entirely voluntary. If the user has a new coronavirus, they can share their location with health officials and remind others to pass by nearby to strengthen their preparations. Their location and actions will be anonymous And encrypted records; Second, the information of patients and general users is not accessed by third parties, including the government, all information about measuring the distance between the user and the patient is carried on the mobile phone, without the server, and the program also has another channel for The approximate location of the government's wide-ranging patients; Third, in order to enhance public trust, the research team has open sourced the code, and welcome comments from the outside world.

The Singapore government has also tried to strike a balance between the use of technology to combat epidemics and the protection of personal privacy. Through the Government Technology Bureau (GovTech) and the Ministry of Health, the country has launched the TraceTogether application to facilitate the government to identify close contacts and let the public understand the risk of infection. As of April 1, millions of people have downloaded it. The application uses Bluetooth relative signal strength indicator (RSSI) to calculate the distance and contact time between two mobile phones. If another device is found within two meters and stays for more than half an hour, it will record each other in the two programs.

The Singapore government emphasizes that TraceTogether takes privacy into consideration. Except for the phone number, the information will not be uploaded to the government, and will be automatically deleted after the 21st day. Only after someone is diagnosed, the government will ask the patient to upload the information, and then contact with the phone number to contact Quarantine. Government officials said they plan to open source the code.

The Singapore government has launched the TraceTogether app, hoping to strike a balance between technology anti-epidemic and protection of personal privacy. (Getty Images)

However, no matter how perfect these two applications are designed, it is always fatal to rely on the voluntary download and use of residents. If the diagnosed person does not download the program, it is meaningless for the average person to download. Private Kit's manual stated that the program "needs widespread use to be effective." Singapore's Minister of National Development Huang Xuncai also called on more people to use TraceTogether.

To deal with infectious diseases, especially new infectious diseases, it is of course important to rely on people ’s self-discipline and cooperation. For example, Hong Kong people mobilize themselves to collect protective materials and reduce large gatherings. However, social mobilization has its limits. The number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong has continued to rise recently, and there are many examples of collective infections due to disregarding calls to reduce social gatherings. It can be seen from this that the key to the fight against the epidemic always rests with the government. Whether it is allocating resources, restricting aggregation, obtaining data from all parties, analyzing communication channels, tracking patients, and prohibiting patients from traveling, it must take decisive and reasonable measures. If the above-mentioned applications can really achieve a balance between the anti-epidemic technology and the protection of privacy, perhaps the government may consider compulsory downloading by all people to effectively combat the epidemic.

The situation of the new crown pneumonia epidemic will change the political and economic situation in various places. For example, medical technology has been more valued, and all regions have also paid more attention to their own epidemic prevention product production chain. The public's health awareness has been strengthened. The situation will be reshaped ... When society is in a critical situation, it is understandable that the government has used more power to protect public safety. However, greater power also means greater responsibility, and the government must be conscious that the reason why it can use greater public power in the fight against epidemic disease stems from the public ’s belief that the government ’s access to data is reasonable, and will not be excessive and misused. Unreasonably hindering people's lives, will not maliciously use personal health conditions to restrict people's freedom.

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The above was published in the 209th "Hong Kong 01" Weekly Newsletter (April 14, 2020) "What is the price of privacy under the survival crisis of the special affairs special office during the war against epidemic?" ".

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