National / Crime & Legal Jul 31, 2020
Japan Supreme Court rules GPS tracking of cars is not spying
The decision rested on the fact that the data collected was not from the targets' homes or surroundings.
Asia Pacific | FOCUS Jun 17, 2020
China’s Great Firewall looms over Hong Kong as surveillance grows
by Jamie Tarabay
Residents and activists worry that proposed national security legislation will further encroach on civil liberties in the former British colony.
National / Crime & Legal Jun 8, 2020
Japan's LDP wants mandatory GPS monitoring of convicted sex offenders
The proposals also seek to improve support for the victims of sex crimes and measures to prevent reoffending.
National / Reference | FYI Jun 4, 2020
Japan's smart cities: Technological dreams or 'Big Brother' nightmares?
by Eric Johnston
Late last month, the Diet passed a revised bill paving the way for so-called “super cities” or “smart cities.” Supporters tout them as high-tech marvels where artificial intelligence and big data are to be used to provide more efficient and cost-effective solutions to social ...
World May 20, 2020
Surveillance and monitoring invade European post-pandemic workplaces
A "Romware Covid Radius bracelet” beeps every time a Tata Steel Ltd. worker in the U.K. or a docker at Belgium’s Antwerp port is within virus-catching distance of someone. At Bouygues SA construction sites and in Sanofi and Schneider Electric SE offices in France ...
Asia Pacific May 13, 2020
Green or red light: China coronavirus app is ticket to everywhere
To enter many offices, restaurants, parks or malls in China nowadays, people must show their status on an app that determines whether they are a coronavirus threat. There is often a moment of tension before opening the app on arriving at a location. A green light ...
Asia Pacific May 3, 2020
Robots delivering meals, ghostly figures in hazmat suits and cameras pointed at front doors: China's methods to enforce coronavirus quarantines have looked like a sci-fi dystopia for legions of people. Authorities have taken drastic steps to ensure that people do not break isolation rules after ...
Commentary / World Apr 29, 2020
COVID-19, disease surveillance and smart cities
by Brad Glosserman
Tracking infections is vital to containing the pandemic, but it also creates mind-bending opportunities for social control.
World Apr 29, 2020
Companies bet on AI cameras to track social distancing and limit liability
Stores and workplaces eager to avoid spreading the novel coronavirus are equipping existing security cameras with artificial intelligence software that can track compliance with health guidelines including social distancing and mask-wearing. Several companies said the software will be crucial to staying open as concerns about ...
World Apr 5, 2020
Residents take coronavirus surveillance into their own hands
A week after Malaysia ordered a partial lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus, construction supervisor Hafi Nazhan saw residents in his affluent Kuala Lumpur neighborhood jogging outside. He took photos of people flouting the stay-at-home order and published them on Twitter, receiving hundreds ...
Commentary / World Mar 31, 2020
Keep a tight rein on virus-tracking tools
by Eli Lake
Tools that democracies need to fight a pandemic are not appropriate when it’s over.
World | ANALYSIS Mar 29, 2020
One victim of COVID-19 pandemic may be privacy rights
by Rob Lever
Digital surveillance and smartphone technology may prove helpful in containing the coronavirus pandemic, but some activists fear they also could bring lasting harm to privacy and digital rights. From China to Singapore to Israel, governments have ordered electronic monitoring of their citizens' movements in an ...