Russia adopts Chinese style surveillance.

To try and get a grip on the coronavirus pandemic now sweeping Russia, the State is using a combination of AI facial recognition linked in real time to mobile phone tracking data with the intention of enforcing the lockdown.

Maybe they have even surpassed China as the facial recognition is not thwarted by the wearing of face masks (or so they claim). Although the Iconoclast here muses that partial facial recognition is aided by the knowledge of who owns the phone, thereby closing the uncertainty loop.

Further use of the algo is to define social distancing and group gatherings. Apparently the system works in real time and arrests are made within minutes.

I suppose technology has now taken over from neighbour spying on neighbour as it was in the old days of the USSR.

Either way, post USSR generations are quite concerned about this degree of State surveillance and hope that when Covid-19 is finally sent packing they can go back to their old lives of minimal State intervention together with a free press and no phone taps. Hmmmm.

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