abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb
Article

7 Jul 2020

Author:
Ayelet Shachar, openDemocracy (UK)

Commentary: Bio-surveillance, invisible borders and the dangerous after-effects of COVID-19 measures

22 June 2020

...The unmooring of state power from a fixed geographical marker has created a new paradigm: the shifting border.

Unlike a reinforced physical barrier, the shifting border is not fixed in time and place; it is comprised of legal portals, surveillance tools, and AI-powered risk assessments rather than brick-and-mortar walls. The black lines we find in atlases no longer coincide with the agile locus and focus of migration control. Instead, governments can shift the location of the border both outward and inward, gaining tremendous capacity to regulate and track individuals before, and after, they reach their desired destination. The flexible tentacles of the shifting border were once deployed primarily to monitor people on the move, escaping poverty and instability. Today, everyone, including citizens of wealthy democracies, are potentially within its ever-extended reach.

Faced with the challenge of defeating an invisible virus, a growing number of countries are turning to futuristic tracing measures, deploying surveillance tools once used for anti-terrorism and international espionage against their own populations at home. These include measures such as geolocating the cellphones of those who have tested positive for the virus (in some cases, without seeking consent for such tracking); erecting “geo-fences” to draw virtual enclosures around quarantine zones; and activating AI-powered thermal cameras that detect change in a person’s body temperature in order to identify whom in a crowd has a fever...