The fourth episode of the Digital X Dynamic 0 series, where guests and I explore different digital aspects of our experiences during the heavily restricted 2022 Shanghai city-wide lockdown, imposed officially from April until June as part of the Chinese government's national "dynamic zero-COVID" policy.

Alessia and I talk Covid-tracing apps and the essential 'Green Health Code,' while unpacking her personal experience under lockdown as a non-Chinese Shanghai resident. What kind of technologies are mobilised and mandated by the authorities trying to crack down on Covid? What is life actually like when you cannot function as a citizen without depending on these apps and QR codes? As a law student who has coincidentally researched and written on contact-tracing apps as a public health measure, Alessia helps me explore: what are the implications on individuals' data privacy? What is 'consent fatigue?' Do data protection laws even help? 

Sources used for episode: 

1. https://www.dlapiper.com/en/us/insights/publications/2022/07/chinas-emerging-data-protection-laws-bring-challenges-for-conducting-investigations-in-china/

2. https://www.justice.gov/dag/cloudact

3. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/8/1479/pdf?version=1659731585 (Xiaohan Zhang, 2022) 

4. https://www.skadden.com/Insights/Publications/2021/11/Chinas-New-Data-Security-and-Personal-Information-Protection-Laws