On May 29, Russian state media reported that the authorities are considering introducing an app that migrant workers would have to download when they enter the country, once the borders re-open after the COVID-19 lockdown. Little is known about proposal. But the few details that have been leaked to the media, coupled with Russia’s longstanding record of racial profiling, other racism against migrants, and recent developments in the “surveillance state” are grounds for serious alarm.
If this app does actually come into being, it could wreak serious harm.
The reports said the app would contain, among other things, a migrant worker’s detailed biometric data, “health status,” and information on their police record. It is not clear from reports what ‘health status’ would include, nor was it clear what biometric information would be used — though in Russia this information could refer to height, weight, hair color, fingerprints, DNA analysis, retina images, facial recognition (photos and videos), and voice samples. Furthermore, the app would apparently note the person’s “social trustworthiness” rating. What a “social trustworthiness” rating is, what indicators are used to assign it or what it might be used for can only be speculated about at present, but it was suggested that refusal to install the app would result in a lowered rating.
Preliminary media reports implied that the proposal sprang from the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ analysis of migration and “force majeure factors as a result of coronavirus pandemic.” Otherwise, it’s not fully clear what rationale the authorities might present for introducing this app.
Whatever the rationale, it’s hard to imagine that the app would meet the standard needed to justify the blanket intrusion into privacy. In Russia, health and biometric data — very personal information — are protected by law, enshrined domestically in the constitution and privacy legislation. International human rights law also protects privacy. Restrictions on that right, and some others, can be justified if they are strictly necessary, proportionate to a legitimate goal, of limited duration and respectful of human dignity. At first blush, this app would fail every test.
It’s unclear whether the app would also access geolocation and other data on the user’s device. Still, it’s difficult not to be disturbed by potential similarities between the proposal and China’s various mass surveillance and behavioral engineering schemes, which may have served as inspiration. These include the “social credit system,” which assigns people’s level of “trustworthiness” and punishes a growing list of bad behaviour, such as jaywalking or eating on the metro, and then deprives offenders of access to desirable social goods, such as the right to live in an attractive city.
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Damelya Aitkhozhina | Radio Free (2020-06-09T08:05:05+00:00) Russia’s latest app will track migrant workers — but who’s next?. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/06/09/russias-latest-app-will-track-migrant-workers-but-whos-next/
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