Tracing every citizen on earth

The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is a game changer. We saw two faces of the pandemic.

On one hand, its relentless, global onslaught followed by its lingering presence despite falling from its peak after more than two and a half years has wrecked the lives of many families. As of Aug 2022, there were more than 6.4 million reported deaths.

On the other hand, we saw unprecedented worldwide coordination and collaboration in developing and getting vaccines approved for mass distributions at accelerated pace. President Donald Trump dubbed his initiative ‘Operation Warp Speed’.

We also saw surge in use of communication technologies to facilitate work-from-home arrangements. “Your mic is off” was repeated countless times every hour across the globe as new users young and old got accustomed to using tools like Zoom for both virtual work and social interactions. Online education took off like never before with the most conservative of universities being forcefully nudged by disruptions to traditional class room delivery to adopt e-learning technologies.  EdTech companies helped fill the resource and capability gaps of these universities and became the new darlings of venture capital markets.    

And then, there are the contact tracing technologies.

In the race against time to control the spread of the virus, countries across the globe developed and implemented contact tracing technologies.

See https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/covid-contact-tracing (Which countries do COVID-19 contact tracing?)

We are all too familiar with these technologies by now.

Taking the form of electronic wristbands, mobile phone Apps, electronic tokens or a combination of these technologies and using Global Positioning System (GPS) or Bluetooth signals, they serve to (a) track individuals who might have come into close contacts with other infected individuals, (b) monitor the whereabout of individuals who are required to serve isolations notices, (c) check-in before being permitted to enter into public venues, and (d) act as vaccination passports.

This is technology for good, right?

Yes, but not without raising some questions.

Rights to Privacy

While there are general acceptances of the crucial role of contract tracing to control the spread of the virus, there are individuals who are concern about their movements being tracked by the state. Hence, these individuals would switch off the Bluetooth signals from their smart phones when they are not using their App to enter venues.  

There are also concerns on how the personal data are used other than for the control of the pandemic.

In January 2021, it was revealed in the Singapore Parliament that contract tracing personal data could be used by the Singapore Police Force for criminal investigations.

This revelation had left some residents upset as they felt that the government had backtracked on its earlier assurances that the data was only used for sole purpose of contact-tracing to control the pandemic.

The Singapore government acknowledged that the legal use of the personal data for criminal investigation was overlooked when the purpose of the contract tracing data was first explained. The government went on to fast track a new legislation to limit the use of the contract tracing personal data to investigate only serious offences, such as murder, terrorism and rape.

Source: “Some TraceTogether users upset with Govt’s revelation on police access to data, say they’ll use it less, Today”, January 7, 2021

The rights to Individual Freedom

The development and approval of the use of vaccines based on newer technology, such as the mRNA vaccines, were fast tracked.

There were members of the public who were concerned of the potential short-term to long-term negative effects of such new vaccines. Hence, some had chosen not to be vaccinated despite being medically able to do so.

Others with underlying medical conditions, such as allergies, that may compromise their health if they receive the vaccination were prevented from being vaccinated or chose not to be vaccinated.

While vaccination in most countries are not made mandatory, disincentives are in place in many countries through the implementation of vaccination differentiation management measures to protect the health of both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. Restrictions are imposed on unvaccinated individuals, such as not being about to dine out in restaurants, enter shopping malls and supermarkets, enforcement of pre-event health screening in order to attend some events, or restrictions on international travels, to encourage vaccinations. 

Such differentiation had the effect of making vaccination “mandatory” for enjoyment of certain freedoms, benefits and even employment without being made into law.

Some have called these measures “vaccination discrimination” and divided society. Medical records, considered personal sensitive information in normal circumstances, has been re-defined as mandatory declarations for movements, as a result of a crisis.

What has the Covid-19 pandemic shown us?

“Never let a good crisis go to waste.” – Winston Churchill or Rahm Emanuel, source unclear.

This crisis has showcased three things:

1. Technologies and their eco-system of auxiliary support for surveillance on the individual and at scale are available, tested and can be rolled out efficiently.
2. On the backdrop of a crisis, the state has tremendous power to enforce the adoption of these technologies through incentives/disincentives, laws or coercion for reason of public interest.
3. In times of crisis, the state can through legal means use personal and sensitive personal data beyond the scope of how they would normally be used for public interest. 

The pandemic measures being implemented globally are vivid pictures of what could well be preview to a draconian society depicted in Revelation 13:16-17:

And it will cause all, small and great, rich and poor, Masters and Servants, to be given a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, That no one may buy or sell again except one who has the mark of the name of The Beast or the number of its name. – Revelation 13:16-17, Peshitta Holy Bible Translated

By no means is this writing implying that the various Covid-19 tools nor the vaccines are the biblical mark of the beast. However, it is hard not to notice that parallel actors, stage and tools exist both in what we have seen during the pandemic and read in Revelation 13:16-17

It is as if this pandemic was a convenient opportunity for a coordinated global dry run.