China Is Using QR Codes To Check If Someone Has Coronavirus, But It Can Be Easily Fooled

The Coronavirus epidemic in China is expanding to the extent that healthcare providers are finding it really difficult to take care of the rising number of infected people. It has claimed over 2000 lives with close to 1 lakh infected as of now and it is showing no signs of stopping.

Reuters

The Chinese government is finding new ways to prevent the spreading of the novel coronavirus and now they¡¯re seeking help from leading Chinese companies like Alibaba and Tencent.

AliPay and WeChat are two of the most used apps in China, managed by Alibaba and Tencent respectively. Starting Wednesday, Alipay has introduced a feature, in collaboration with the Chinese government that allots a coloured QR code to a user that represents his/her health status in the city of Huangzhou.

App users in the aforementioned city are asked to fill an online form by adding details like their ID number, whether they¡¯ve travelled outside the city along with symptoms of cold or heavy cough if any.

After submitting the form they¡¯re given the QR code -- each colour signifies something different. Red means the user needs to stay indoors for 14 days and get regular check-ins using DingTalk -- an office chat app also managed by Alibaba.

In case a user got yellow code, they¡¯re asked to stay indoors for 7 days while people with Green codes can go around the city without any hindrances. People with red and yellow codes are asked to check their health status daily, eventually turning it green.

Alipay

These codes can be used as a gate-pass of sorts -- it can be applied at checkpoints, train stations, even residential complexes. They can show the QR code, thus revealing their health status. Many supermarkets are also asking for this QR code. And while this might seem like a foolproof way to prevent spreading of the virus -- it really isn¡¯t.

Why this QR Code thing might not work

The basis of getting a green QR code is dependent on the kind of information you¡¯re adding in the online form. And people who are really infected but don¡¯t want to be locked down in a quarantine can fake the information and travel around the city with a green code. The entire premise hands on the honesty of the citizen and one lie is all it takes for the whole system to come crashing down.

Moreover, many users are also complaining that the app is making erroneous assessments with people with mild sore throat forced to stay in a 14-day quarantine and even after complaining, there is no follow-up for the correction.

Instead, the government could have shared smart bands with temperature and heart-rate monitoring that would accurately monitor the temperature of the citizens in real-time and feed the data on to the app, instead of relying on the citizens.