Asia has become hotspot for mass surveillance during coronavirus pandemic, heightening risks of abuse, analysts say

Among the worst-scoring Asian nations in the Verisk Maplecroft index were Pakistan, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, India and the Philippines

Asian countries often lack adequate oversight of mass surveillance systems and legislation to protect privacy, data rights advocates say

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The pandemic has enabled authorities from China to Russia to increase surveillance and clamp down on free speech, digital rights experts say. Photo: EPA

Published: 12:48pm, 1 Oct 2020Updated: 9:23pm, 1 Oct 2020

Asia has become the world’s surveillance hotspot and is at risk of serious privacy breaches as measures rolled out to contain the spread of Covid-19 become permanent in many countries, researchers warned on Thursday.

The Right to Privacy Index (RPI) published by British-based risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, rated 198 countries for privacy violations stemming from mass surveillance operations, retention of personal data, home searches and other breaches.

According to the findings, Asia was the world’s highest-risk region for violations with a deterioration in recent years.

“Asia as a region risks sleepwalking into serious privacy breaches if there isn’t transparency when it comes to data use with respect to Covid-19 surveillance measures,” said Sofia Nazalya, a human rights analyst at Verisk Maplecroft.

Asian countries scored worse on average than nations in other regions, said Singapore-based Nazalya, the author of the study.

The pandemic has enabled authorities from China to Russia to increase surveillance and clamp down on free speech, digital rights experts say.

Many countries have tightened border controls and imposed travel bans. Some have stepped up surveillance using artificial intelligence and big data, alarming human rights activists and data privacy experts.

Among the worst-scoring Asian nations in the Verisk Maplecroft index were Pakistan, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, India and the Philippines.