Moscow's Digital Tracking 'Cyber Gulag' Helps Enforcing Lockdown by Tracking People

Moscow will enforce its digital tracking system starting tomorrow to limit the movements in the city as coronavirus cases soar.

All residents aged 14 or above must register on a government website download an app on their smartphones. If they want to go anywhere in the city, they must declare a route and purpose, and then they will receive a QR code, which authorities can track.

Since Apr. 2, COVID-19 patients who are not in the hospital have already been using the Social Monitoring app. The app has access to the user's mobile information to ensure they do not leave their home while sick. This includes calls, location, storage, camera, and network details.

However, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin decides to implement the digital tracking system to the public after the surge of cases in the city. The capital has now recorded 11,513 coronavirus cases, which is about 60% of the country's total of 18,328. Sobyanin also said on Friday an increase to its daily hospitalizations from around 500 to 1,300.

The authorities will initially require passes for people using public transport, but it may also apply to trips within the community. Working people can get special unlimited passes while those dealing with personal matters can get two one-day passes per week. People who go out without a permit or provide false information will be fined.

Other countries and cities also implement strict measures to contain the pandemic. Paris uses paper-based forms, while China uses QR codes to monitor the public, which is similar to that of Moscow's. Many governments make use of a QR Code generator online to inform their citizens of all latest updates related to Covid-19. 

Moscow is the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. Sobyanin was irked by the crowding of the streets and parks last week when the voluntary lockdown was employed. This prompted the authorities to tighten the rules, asking the public only to go to a nearby store and to walk a dog within 100 meters of their homes to avoid a fine.

It started a citywide quarantine on Mar. 30, which has been extended until May 1. This was after President Vladimir Putin prolonged the "nationwide paid "non-working" period to urge people to self-quarantine.

Activists worry about risks

After initially shrugging off the citywide use of digital tracking system, the government now pushes its use to halt the increasing coronavirus cases.

However, some experts worry that the government's system may not handle such a volume of traffic. Moscow has over 12.5 million populations, which means millions will apply for QR codes.

Earlier, the system had some hiccups. A CNN report says that Moscow's "registration website went offline several times, text-codes came with hours of delay, and call center lines were busy". Yet, the mayor's office blamed these issues on numerous DDoS-attacks.

Meanwhile, rights activists fear the QR code system may be used for an invasive practice even after the pandemic.

The Moscow mayor's office says it will delete all data after the self-isolation period ends, but experts worry the accumulated database with people's full profiles, and extensive records of their every move could end up in the wrong hands.

"There is a high probability that once the epidemic ends, this data will start leaking to the market, which happens to many other databases... This is very risky," says Sarkis Darbinyan, lawyer of Roskomsovoda, a group that monitors online freedom in Russia.

Opposition lawmakers Daria Besedina and Maxim Katz even dubbed the system as a "cyber Gulag" and "digital concentration camp." They voted against it and warned the new system will lead to unprecedented government intrusion.

In this new policy, users need to register to a government e-portal to get a QR code. This is the same website that stores data on traffic fines, utility bills, foreign passports, and others. Also, they need to upload their IDs as well as disclose their itinerary, employer's tax identifier, and car plate number.