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Privacy lost: Appropriating surveillance technology in China’s fight against COVID-19

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  • Liu, Jun
  • Zhao, Hui

Abstract

China’s unprecedented measures to mobilize its diverse surveillance apparatus played a key part in the country’s successful containment of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Critics worldwide believe these invasive technologies, in the hands of an authoritarian regime, could trample the right to privacy and curb fundamental civil and human rights. However, there is little domestic public resistance in China about technology-related privacy risks during the pandemic. Drawing on academic research and a semantic network analysis of media frames, we explore the contextual political and cultural belief systems that determine public support for authorities’ ever-expanding access to personal data. We interrogate the longer-term trajectories—including the guardian model of governance, sociotechnical imagination of technology, and communitarian values—by which the understanding of technology and privacy in times of crisis has been shaped. China’s actions shed light on the general acceptance of the handover of personal data for anti-epidemic purposes in East Asian societies like South Korea and Singapore.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Jun & Zhao, Hui, 2021. "Privacy lost: Appropriating surveillance technology in China’s fight against COVID-19," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(6), pages 743-756.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:64:y:2021:i:6:p:743-756
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2021.07.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. H. Christoph Steinhardt, 2012. "How is High Trust in China Possible? Comparing the Origins of Generalized Trust in Three Chinese Societies," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 60(2), pages 434-454, June.
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    3. Greitens, Sheena Chestnut, 2020. "Surveillance, Security, and Liberal Democracy in the Post-COVID World," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(S1), pages 169-190, December.
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    1. Yang Yang & Albert P. C. Chan & Ming Shan & Ran Gao & Fengyu Bao & Sainan Lyu & Qingwen Zhang & Junfeng Guan, 2021. "Opportunities and Challenges for Construction Health and Safety Technologies under the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chinese Construction Projects," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Liu, Yu-li & Wu, Yanfei & Li, Changyan & Song, Chuling & Hsu, Wen-yi, 2024. "Does displaying one's IP location influence users' privacy behavior on social media? Evidence from China's Weibo," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(5).
    3. Bei Ju & Hai Min Dai & Todd L. Sandel, 2023. "Resilience and (Dis)empowerment: Use of Social Media Among Female Mainland Low-Skilled Workers in Macao During the COVID-19 Pandemic," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440231, March.

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