Covid-19 Ushered in a New Era of Government Surveillance
Government-mandated drone surveillance and location tracking apps could be here to stay
In early December, after finding 16 people had illegally crossed the border from Myanmar to Thailand and evaded the mandatory quarantine period, the Thai government said it would start patrolling the border with new surveillance equipment like drones and ultraviolet cameras.
In 2020, this kind of surveillance, justified by the coronavirus pandemic, has gone mainstream. Since March, more than 30 countries have instituted data gathering or surveillance measures questioned by privacy advocates, as OneZero tracked earlier in the year. That includes drones, like those used by the Thai government, but also apps that track a coronavirus patient’s every move, or even government cameras installed in Australians’ homes to make them comply with quarantine orders.
Nine months on, a new OneZero review suggests that many of those programs are still in effect, and have even been extended in some cases: Governments are still mandating the installation of invasive apps, as well as tracking movement by partnering with location-tracking companies and using CCTV cameras and drones.
