The Covid-19 pandemic is ushering in a new era of digital surveillance and rewiring the world’s sensibilities about data privacy. Governments are imposing new digital surveillance tools to track and monitor individuals...  [S]ome privacy advocates are wary, concerned that governments might not be inclined to unwind such practices after the health emergency has passed... Authorities in Asia... have led the way. Many governments didn’t seek permission from individuals before tracking their cellphones to identify suspected coronavirus patients... Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google recently announced plans to launch a voluntary app that health officials can use to reverse-engineer sickened patients’ recent whereabouts—provided they agree to provide such information.

... Joseph Cannataci, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on privacy rights [said]... “Things are going too fast, and not enough scrutiny is being applied,” said Mr. Cannataci, whose next report to the U.N. General Assembly in October will address coronavirus surveillance and privacy... The biggest privacy debate has centered on the involuntary use of smartphones and other digital data to conduct contact tracing.

... Suh Chae-wan of the Minbyun Lawyers for a Democratic Society, which focuses on human rights and democracy, said the [South Korean] government has accessed information on far more people than those with the virus.