Issues and Disputes

The government’s virus-tracking software has been collecting information, including location data, on people in hundreds of cities across China. And now, officials in some places are loading their apps with new features, hoping the software will live on as more than just an emergency measure. Since health codes restrict people's travel, many people worry that health codes have become a tool for the government to review and monitor citizens.

Health code collects a large number of national personal information, which is easy to become the target of hacker attacks. However, it is not clear who is in control of data flows, who owns user health data, and how Health Code is regulated by governments. At present, some health code information has been leaked.

Many system omissions occurred in the early stage of health code release. Large scale health code failures have occurred in Hangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an and other big cities. Since health code is necessary for citizens to travel, the failure of health code system will lead to a large number of people unable to travel normally.

Due to the self-contained system of local health codes, some health codes are only valid locally and will not work if they cross regions. At present, the Chinese government has launched a national health code platform in an attempt to unify standards to facilitate personnel travel and cross provincial mobility.

Many elderly people have difficulty traveling because they don't have smart phones and can't scan health codes.

Google play app store once launched the application of "health code demonstration", which can not only change the identity information and display urban areas according to the needs of users, but also switch the color of health code by itself. Such application is suspected of breaking the law and disturbing the epidemic prevention order.