Repurpose COVID-19 Surveillance Tech

[GURPS]

In the least surprising development in history, via Associated Press:

In the pandemic’s bewildering early days, millions worldwide believed government officials who said they needed confidential data for new tech tools that could help stop coronavirus’ spread. In return, governments got a firehose of individuals’ private health details, photographs that captured their facial measurements and their home addresses.

This is the same essential story as the last permanent emergency that gripped the West, the War on Terror — a supposed existential threat emerges on the heels of a catastrophic event (9/11). The state then takes advantage of the populace’s fear and panic to draft sweeping new powers for itself. Those powers inevitably are later found to have been used for opaque (and often illegal) purposes beyond the original scope of authority.

Rinse and repeat with climate change, cyber warfare, and whatever other boogeymen, real or imagined, the national security state conjures next.

The AP story continues:

Now, from Beijing to Jerusalem to Hyderabad, India, and Perth, Australia, The Associated Press has found that authorities used these technologies and data to halt travel for activists and ordinary people, harass marginalized communities and link people’s health information to other surveillance and law enforcement tools. In some cases, data was shared with spy agencies.

Pair the opportunistic power grabs with the fact that the national security state in the U.S. is now totally beyond popular democratic control, much less any sort of transparency.

Authorities Worldwide Repurpose COVID-19 Surveillance Tech for Law Enforcement, Spying

pjmedia.com