Health Code (Chinese: 健康码, Jiànkāngmǎ) is[needs update] a type of application used during COVID-19[1] in mainland China.
The application will then generate a QR code that identifies the individual's risk level as red, yellow, or green.
[7] Individuals can choose Alipay, WeChat, provincial government service clients or mini programs to declare personal data and receive health codes.
[8] Apply for the epidemic prevention health code in Alipay and WeChat, and the data will be connected to the national government platform.
After filling in personal information, health status, travel history, place of residence, and contact with suspected or confirmed virus patients, the program will automatically generate a QR code.
In order to facilitate the application of foreigners, some local governments have also introduced the English version of the health code.
For areas where there is no provision for collection, if special persons need to enter a specific place, they can present an ID card, a paper health certificate, etc.
Resident Health Card of Hunan Province[27] Guangdong Health Code (GHC)[28] Guangzhou Health Code[29] I Shenzhen[30] Mandarin YuKang Ma Xinjiang Government Service[32] Starting April 2020, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and General Administration of Customs required all Chinese citizens and eligible alien visitors taking flights to China to fill out questionnaires (A-1) of the Health Code International Version to obtain a green code to board day by day starting from 14 days before departure and required that it be verified by airline's ground staffs for check-in and boarding.
[37] In the event of a typo or error, passengers needed to contact the Global Consular Protection and Service Emergency Hotline of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China for background processing.
In the case of a local epidemic, you can quickly correlate to other people who have scanned the place code through the sweeping records of the newly crowned confirmed cases or close contacts, so as to facilitate the relevant departments to carry out accurate retrospective investigation and avoid the spread of the epidemic.
[46] The application can extract a variety of personal data collected by the government, with in-depth and extensive large-scale surveillance.
In this situation, the user’s personal information, location and identification code will be sent to the server, which may exist for a long time after the epidemic is over, and then help the government to monitor.
In July 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China issued a document stating that “using the epidemic to use big data technology to carry out large-scale surveillance, infringing on citizens’ privacy rights” is a fallacy.
Some critics pointed out that this was a blind collusion between business and administration, and that it would be a bad example to propose an upgrade of the health code in a model city of e-government.
[52] At the beginning of the release of the health code, there were multiple system omissions, including the inability to modify personal information, and automatically log in to 37 degrees of body temperature.
According to VOA reports, Taiwan’s artificial intelligence, machine deep learning expert, and associate professor of electrical engineering at National Tsinghua University, Li Qi, believes that the health code is used in special situations and involves sensitive issues such as the spread of the epidemic or groups at high risk of infection.
If AI technology is added in the data process, and the decision makers set indicators and integrate data training, and then mark the users layer by layer, it can not only avoid privacy concerns, accurately analyze and judge the situation of the people, and it can also be better for experts to prevent epidemics.
[54] There have been concerns that the code may be abused by the authorities to restrict access to public services and movement for reasons other than pandemic control.
In December 2021, a human rights lawyer called Xie Yang tried to travel to Shanghai to visit a dissident's mother despite authorities' warnings.
He found his code turned red at the airport despite no recent travel, was stopped by security, tried to resist quarantine and failed.
[58] The Hangzhou government is actively exploring additional services on the health code, such as medical visits and scenic reservations.
But mandatory health codes, quarantine, and vaccinations are against the liberalism and human rights favored by Western countries.
[clarification needed] Due to the red color of the health code, the government will immediately be able to locate the specific person involved in the disease and enforce a group quarantine.
A bus accident that caused 27 deaths and injured another 20 victims in southwestern China's Guizhou province was carried in the government's Guiyang City quarantine transfer vehicle for people involved in the disease, transporting people to the COVID-19 quarantine site, local media reported Sunday.