How big data helps China track the coronavirus… and its people

Databases full of real names and ID numbers have been used in China for censorship and surveillance, but can they help stop the virus?

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Travel data from China Railway and national airlines has proven useful in tracking down potential coronavirus carriers. (Picture: AFP)

Published: 8:15pm, 14 Feb 2020

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Alarm over the rapidly spreading coronavirus in China has made it important to keep tabs on where people have been. That’s why anyone who needs proof that they haven’t been near the epicenter of the virus in Wuhan, Hubei province, can now request location data from their telecom carrier.

By sending a text message to any of China’s three state-owned telecom companies, users can get a message back showing a list of cities and provinces they visited within the last 14 days. This is just one of the ways the country has been using its vast trove of data to track and stop the virus.

In this battle, China might have an edge. Many of the country’s services, including those from telecom companies, require real-name registration. Depending on the service, this might have been introduced for practical reasons or for social control and surveillance.

The result is a vast trove of data about people around the country. It’s allowed authorities to build tools that can easily track down people who recently traveled to Wuhan and who might have been in touch with potential disease carriers.

One example is a new government platform called Close Contact Detector, which was launched this week by state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC). The platform, designed with the State Council and the National Health Commission, pulls in data from China's health authorities, the Ministry of Transport, China Railway and China's aviation authority.