Immunity Jealousy Is Coming
If immunity = freedom, that’s likely to induce envy
In an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19, the Chinese government earlier this year instituted an app-based smartphone program that continues to govern the movement of many of its citizens.
Each person’s phone displays a colored QR code. A green code means that a person is permitted to take public transportation and move about with few restrictions. A yellow code means that a person must stay at home, while a red code mandates a two-week quarantine. “Green code, travel freely. Red or yellow, report immediately,” read government notices and posters advertising the app, according to reporting from the New York Times.
Although Chinese officials have been tight-lipped about the app’s design, it’s ostensibly based on location and travel-history data, as well as self-reported symptoms and health information. Russia is now using a similar program in some of its major cities. European officials have discussed a less-restrictive app that could track Covid-19 infections and alert those who are at risk of exposure. And, despite privacy concerns, similar tech-based “contact tracing” proposals have been floated in the U.S. for the last two months.
No one knows what the future will bring. Just six months ago, the idea that nearly every U.S. state…
