Hong Kong’s Electronic Handcuffs in the Name of Public Health

Hong Kong government helps the CCP(the Chinese Communist Paty) along the way to push a higher level of control over people by tightening policy in the name of public health. Following the CCP’s authoritarian measures of “fighting against Covid epidemic” and propaganda of “Zero-Covid strategy”, Hong Kong has upgraded its “Leave Home Safe” App, a risk-exposure tracing software, by incorporating the CCP-style electronic health color-coded system. The Hong Kong government also claims that the government’s Health Code software is safe and reliable. However, according to the news of SCMP on July 29, a Poland-based cyber security firm has reported that the CCP’s Health Code software is vulnerable to data leaks and phishing attacks.

 Undoubtedly, the CCP has been extending its hands nearly every aspect of Hong Kong’s infrastructure. Hong Kong government is complying with the CCP’s official health policy to implement its Heath Code software App:green, yellow or red that dictates the degree of freedom for an individual:

 People with GREEN QR codes are free to move around the city. YELLOW QR codes would be used for individuals who are not allowed to leave their homes while they are undergoing quarantine or isolation. Finally, RED QR codes represent individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19, therefore they are not allowed to leave homes while they are required to wear electronic bracelets to ensure they stay at home.

 At its core, the CCP’s Health Code software runs on a digital device through real-name registration in the app and uses it as a pass to access public venue or service. It is a contemporary digital surveillance system that jeopardizes freedom of people in Hong Kong.Although the Hong Kong government has slammed the report for indicating the vulnerability of “Leave Home Safe” App, the unprecedented massive scale of collection of personal data may have been covered-up. Under the CCP’s regime, its Health Code software can efficiently collect people’s biometric data, track people’s digital footprint, flag people’s contact history, even lock people down and force therapeutics on people. If the CCP’s developers of the Health Code App allowed the CCP to scoop up sensitive personal data for intelligence purposes or developed backdoor access for data manipulations, then Hong Kong people’s privacy would be severely abused.