Track our location to prevent infections. This program is directed in Spain by Nuria Oliver and uses the anonymized data of our mobile phones, provided by mobile operators, in order to obtain population movement maps and thereby prevent sources of contagion during this quarantine period.

But Spain is not the only one.

Governments around the world are galvanizing every surveillance tool at their disposal to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus. And what is the one thing that practically all of us carry with us? Our cell phones, of course.

The Top10VPN website details in real time all the countries that have already introduced extra security measures to track the phones of coronavirus patients, ranging from anonymous data to monitor the movement of people in general, to the tracking of individual suspicious patients and your contacts, known as “contact tracing”. Something that many suggest could be the beginning of an increase in permanent surveillance of citizens.

Countries that track mobile phones:

South Korea

South Korea provides detailed information on the whereabouts of patients with the COVID-19 disease . Undoubtedly, the country that has deepened the most in this regard, since there is a publicly available phone tracking map to allow other citizens to verify if they have ever come across someone infected with coronavirus. In addition, the South Korean government is using the map to proactively send regional text messages warning those who may have been in contact with someone who is carrying the virus. And the location can be extremely specific. For example, “Magic Coin Karaoke in Jayang-dong at midnight on February 20.”

This measure, which clearly violates civil liberties, can be even more specific : “a 60-year-old woman has just tested positive. Click on the link of the places you visited before being hospitalized ”, cites an example given by The Guardian newspaper.

Iran

The government of Iran has asked its citizens to download an invasive application to obtain information about their location in real time. The app, called AC19, claims to be able to diagnose the user through a series of questions. Google Play wasted no time in removing the app from its store.

Israel

The Israel Security Agency does not need a court order to track the phones of its citizens thanks to a set of surveillance measures approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Of course, according to the law, all data must be deleted after 30 days.

Singapore

This country has an application developed by the Technology Agency of the Government of Singapore and the Ministry of Health that can track citizens who have been within two meters of infected patients for at least 30 minutes.

Taiwan

Taiwan has activated what it calls an “electronic fence,” a feature that can tell when you’ve left home while in quarantine. Mobile phone data is tracked and authorities are alerted when someone who is supposed to be in quarantine has decided to leave. This tool works even with the mobile turned off.

Austria

Telekom Austria AG, the largest telecommunications network operator in this country, announced that it was sharing anonymous location data with the government; This data is used to control the movements of people on the map.

Poland

Poland announced a measure to say the least curious: a request to its citizens to take selfies to show that they are following the quarantine correctly. The app, called “Home Quarantine” seeks to ensure that no one leaves the house during this period of confinement. The app periodically requests selfies and if the user does not comply with the request within the next 20 minutes, a police alert is produced.

Belgium

The Belgian government approved the use of anonymous data from local telecommunications companies to track possible coronavirus cases.

Germany

Deutsche Telekom, for its part, also published that it would share its data with the Robert Koch Institute (the German version of the CDC), to see how citizens move around the country.

Italy

This European Union country, one of the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, has reached an agreement with telecommunications operators to collect anonymous location data. Thanks to movement maps, the authorities have been able to locate more than 40,000 cases of violation of the laws of the state of alarm.

The United States and the United Kingdom have not announced anything official yet, but these and other countries are likely to follow suit.