Beijing Neighborhoods Take Back Electronic Bracelets After Quarantine Complaints

Several neighborhood committees in Beijing have collected Covid-19 monitoring bracelets they earlier sent to and required residents under home quarantine to wear, after their use triggered public outcry.

Several neighborhoods in Beijing are retrieving Covid-19 monitors they gave out to residents in home quarantine, after online criticism of the requirement to wear the temperature gauges during isolation gained considerable traction.

The quarantine bracelets were deemed by social media users likely to threaten rights and privacy, amid growing concerns over data privacy in China’s Covid-19 playbook. The health code system — a digital tool used by local authorities to track people’s whereabouts to control the pandemic — was recently misused by Henan officials to prevent people withdrawing money from ailing local banks.