Shades Off | Hong Kong’s harvesting of personal data in Covid-19 fight must be conducted in sunlight

Name: China’s facial recognition technology identifies people wearing masks amid the Covid-19 epidemic
Uploaded: 2021-05-03T22:45:05.000Z
Duration: 59 s
Description: China’s facial recognition technology identifies people wearing masks amid the Covid-19 epidemic

Why is so much personal data required to activate the ‘one-stop personalised digital services platform’ Hongkongers are encouraged to use?

Clear rules must be drawn up, clarifying doubts about the government’s motive, and consent given before any information is collected

Reading Time:3 minutes

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Wing Chin Chun-wing, president of the Hong Kong Bar and Club Association, shows the QR code that patrons are asked to display for proof of vaccination before entering a bar, at an interview on April 29. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Peter Kammerer

Published: 6:45am, 4 May 2021Updated: 6:45am, 4 May 2021

My full name, Hong Kong identity card number, fingerprints and face scan – I’m protective of them all. Yet the government wants each one if I register to use its iAm Smart app, a so-called “one-stop personalised digital services platform” to enable convenient access of data and information.

I didn’t read the instructions closely enough before trying to install it, but the alarm bells rang at the facial recognition part. I bailed out when instructed to have my picture taken with mouth closed, then open.

By consenting to download the app, I would have been submitting my image to a database of records. Facial recognition software is in wide use in mainland China and increasingly by numerous other governments, police forces and at places like airports for surveillance. It identifies people by comparing images of their faces against those in a database.

There is no clear legal framework for its use; it assumes everyone is a criminal, denies us the ability to decide how our images are used and indicates authorities do not trust citizens. Its use isn’t about law and order; it’s about control.

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China’s facial recognition technology identifies people wearing masks amid the Covid-19 epidemic

I had been trying to find a way to access my Covid-19 vaccination records and stumbled on a government website promoting the app. But I wasn’t anticipating that every bit of personal data I hold dear would be asked for. In simple language, this app is a violation of my privacy.

The government has been warning us for years about the need to protect our personal information. There have been hacks of the networks of some private companies and a marked increase in the number of online and phone scams. It has been telling us not to unthinkingly hand over personal information to strangers and be careful when using the internet and apps.

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.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}Shades Off | Hong Kong’s harvesting of personal data in Covid-19 fight must be conducted in sunlight

Shades Off | Hong Kong’s harvesting of personal data in Covid-19 fight must be conducted in sunlight