Coronavirus and digital control: QR codes for citizens and an exit ban

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The situation with the spread of coronavirus in the world continues to deteriorate, and in these conditions, governments and other state authorities are imposing restrictive measures for the population as a blueprint. At the same time, it is not decisive how many citizens have a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 - 1534 (as in Russia on the morning of March 30, according to official data from Rospotrebnadzor) or, for example, 19784 (as in the UK).

On Sunday, March 29, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin issued a decree on compulsory general self-isolation of Muscovites, then the authorities of the Moscow and Murmansk regions joined him. If you look at the experience of Europe and the United States, it can be assumed that the number of cases in the Russian Federation will continue to increase - there is a threat of an epidemic (although at the moment official figures do not allow talking about the coronavirus epidemic in Russia). Therefore, the authorities are introducing a high alert regime (this is not yet an emergency announcement). But now we propose to look at the development of events from a legal point of view, as well as from the perspective that was set in our material "Coronavirus as an ideal weapon for globalists."

In the field of restricting the rights of the population through the introduction of total electronic control, a lot of interesting things are happening now - in fact, we are witnessing the very same digital revolution that globalist foresight foresters are dreaming of. For example, "Vesti" reports that on the morning of March 26, about 63 thousand pensioners tried to travel in the Moscow metro on the social cards blocked the day before. The blocking of social cards for beneficiaries (students and pensioners) is a restrictive measure of the city authorities for the period of quarantine, one of the components of the "high alert regime" that Sobyanin introduced on the territory of Moscow on March 5. At the same time, the same beneficiaries could freely buy single tickets, a Troika card and go anywhere. In fact, they were simply denied benefits (reportedly temporarily) as a measure of stimulation to be absent from home, and thus their legal rights were diminished towards the complete cancellation (albeit temporary) of free travel, which violates paragraph 2 of Art. 55 of the Constitution. In addition, according to clause 3 of the same Article 55, human rights and freedoms can be limited by a separate Federal Law and only to the extent necessary “in order to protect the foundations of the constitutional order, morality, health, rights and legitimate interests of others., ensuring the country's defense and state security”.

Of course, we can say here that social rights are not an absolute, debatable category, that "the situation today is urgent, and therefore urgent measures are needed, and so on." Yes, you can consider that this is our value judgment, but in the current situation, issues of violation of the legal rights of citizens arise everywhere. Another example is the decision of the mayor of Lipetsk Yevgenia Uvarkina "in order to reduce the incidence" from April 3 to prohibit the payment of travel on public transport in cash, since this method of payment, according to the head of the city, is the fastest way to spread the infection. At the same time, she instructed to intensify the sale of transport cards, through which, presumably, the virus is not transmitted. Well, and also - through the handrails and handles of transport, and in fact, through the contact of passengers, who in buses and minibuses cannot withstand the recommended distance of 1.5-2 meters.

Another interesting control tool is the order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated March 23, 2020, within the framework of which the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications should put into operation a system for tracking the location of citizens infected with coronavirus, as well as everyone who contacted them, from March 27. The system will be organized according to the following principles:

- work on the basis of information from cellular operators about the geolocation of a specific person's cell phone;

- the main objects of tracking are patients with the new coronavirus, - the tracking system will "know" where such a patient is (if he has a switched on mobile phone), - the system will also "know" where, when and with what other SIM card / phone owner the patient contacts, - everyone with whom there was contact will receive a notification from the system that they have met a 2019-nCoV carrier and therefore need to isolate themselves, - information about the contact will also go to the operational headquarters of the region.

As noted by the well-known legal portal garant.ru, “according to Part 3 of Art. 55 of the Constitution, human and civil rights and freedoms, in particular, the right to privacy, can be limited only by federal law, but not by an act of the Government of the Russian Federation. However, as Interfax reports with reference to the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin believes that the government's instruction to create a system for tracking the whereabouts of citizens in contact with patients with coronavirus does not run counter to the observance of the rights of citizens of the Russian Federation.

And finally, let us analyze yesterday Sobyanin's decision on the forced self-isolation of Muscovites. Obviously, the decrees of the authorities of the Moscow and Murmansk regions were copied from him as a carbon copy. Since March 30, a mandatory self-isolation regime has been introduced in these regions (for more details, see, for example, here). Citizens can go out into the street from houses and apartments only in cases of seeking emergency medical care or other direct threat to life and health. In addition, local residents, who are required to appear at the workplace, can commute to work. It is allowed to make purchases at the nearest working store or pharmacy, walk pets at a distance not exceeding one hundred meters from the place of residence, and take out the trash.

Sobyanin also announced another very interesting innovation: soon it will be possible to go outside only with a special pass, which will be issued to residents of the capital in accordance with the procedure established by the Moscow government.

“Over the next week, a smart system for monitoring compliance with the home regime and the established rules for the movement of citizens will be deployed. Gradually, but steadily, we will tighten the control necessary in this situation,”Sobyanin said rather ominously.

All these new restrictions are introduced by the Moscow authorities within the framework of the same high alert regime announced on March 5. Moreover, the attitude towards them among representatives of various branches of government varies. So, the head of the Federation Council committee on constitutional legislation and state building Andrei Klishas said:

"In accordance with Article 55 of the Constitution, restrictions on the rights and freedoms of citizens are possible only by virtue of federal law and for constitutionally significant purposes, which means that the introduction of such restrictions is the exclusive competence of the Federal Assembly and the President."

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, on the other hand, fully approved Sobyanin's measures, toughened the fines for violating quarantine and proposed extending the capital's experience to the entire country. Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov also supported Sobyanin, adding that "These are far from tough measures, but these are measures in the interests of Muscovites."

If we assess the situation from the point of view of the legal field, then, as TASS explained back on March 5, the modes of functioning of government bodies and forces of the unified state system for the prevention and elimination of emergencies character . This document was signed by Russian President Boris Yeltsin on December 21, 1994.

Clause 6 of Article 4.1 of this law provides for three similar regimes:

- daily routine (in the absence of a threat of an emergency);

- high alert mode (if such a threat exists);

According to paragraph 10 of the same article, under a high alert regime, the authorities can:

- restrict the access of people and vehicles to the territory where there is a threat of emergencies;

- to suspend the activities of organizations if there is a threat to the life safety of their employees and other citizens;

- to carry out other measures that do not limit the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, to create the necessary conditions for the prevention and elimination of an emergency situation and to minimize its negative impact.

Also, the authorities establish the procedure for the use of various reserves in the event of an emergency, including vehicles and warning devices.

TASS explains that

“The high alert regime, like the emergency regime, is introduced and canceled by decrees of the executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation or local authorities. In Moscow, an emergency and high alert regime has never been introduced in modern history. However, for other regions this is a fairly common practice due to floods, spring grass blast, forest fires and other natural disasters."

That is, if we consider the whole of Moscow "a territory in which there is a threat of emergencies," then the Moscow authorities, within the framework of the high alert regime, have the right to impose restrictions on the access of people and vehicles to it. At the same time, we note that Sobyanin has not yet prohibited entry to and exit from Moscow, just as it is allowed to move around the city by private transport.

And here is how Leonid Soloviev, a lawyer of the liberal office "Agora", comments on the decree of the Moscow Mayor's Office:

“You cannot oblige citizens to stay at home and not go out into the street, to prohibit them freedom of movement - an inalienable constitutional right, bypassing the procedures provided for by law. It is possible to prohibit citizens from moving only after the introduction of a state of emergency. Only a presidential decree, confirmed by the Federation Council, can introduce a state of emergency. After that, quarantine measures can be extended to everyone. But in this case, this was not done, and the mayor, being the highest official of the city, bypasses all procedures and is engaged in the fact that allegedly obliges people to comply with this regime. The legal nature of this decree is an appeal, it is not an obligation,”Solovyov believes, calling Sobyanin’s measures“a rehearsal of the state of emergency.”

It turns out that the Agora lawyer in this case is in full solidarity with Senator Klishas. Although, we repeat, the relevant federal law provides for the possibility of introducing a local regime of high alert and emergency situations (by municipal and regional authorities) - with appropriate restrictions on movement. But what definitely deserves attention in the context of the new restrictive measures of the authorities, is the comment of "Agora" on the personal identification of citizens by the QR code:

“Do QR codes have any legal status?

A QR Code (Quick Response Code) is a machine-readable set of data. At the same time, the maximum amount of information in this code is limited to about 4,000 characters in the Latin alphabet or up to 2,900 characters in Russian.

There is no information about the readiness of the site of the mayor of Moscow to maintain such a resource - neither technical nor in terms of security.

It can be assumed that the QR code will contain:

- or offline information that duplicates the identity card (with registration). This option seems inappropriate in the presence of paper documents. In addition, the current legislation does not provide for the possibility of verifying the identity and place of registration of an individual using a QR code;

- or a link for access of the checking person to the required entry in the database of the Moscow emergency headquarters.

What to expect from a smart control system?

1) Firstly, when registering in the database on the website of the Mayor of Moscow, voluntary consent to the collection, processing, storage and unrestricted transfer of personal data of all registered persons is obtained by ticking the checkbox.

2) Secondly, the formation of a database of places of residence of all residents of the capital, independent (for now) from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

3) Third, an accurate count of Muscovites (including temporary residents).

4) Fourth, access of an almost unlimited circle of persons (headquarters staff, technical specialists, any police officer with a QR code scanner) to all this personal data.

What are the dangers associated with the implementation of this system?

1) Any new software product contains errors. Extremely high development speed increases the probability of errors by an order of magnitude. Participation in the development of civil servants with no direct financial interest in the result also does not benefit the quality of any project.

The fact that in an emergency situation several tens of millions of people will have to go through registration at once also does not add stability to this system.

Thus, any attempt to use this database in order to bring a citizen to any responsibility (in an independent and impartial court, seriously taking into account the importance of the presumption of innocence) will crash against the conclusion of a technical specialist invited by the defense, who will confirm that it is impossible to exclude the possibility of a crude error. software product.

2) At the moment, there is no clear definition of what set of data the operational headquarters wants to receive, how (and whether at all) public transparency of the processing, storage and destruction of this data will be ensured in order to avoid abuse. There is no information that access to the data will be somehow limited and provided only to authorized specialists in the field of geographic epidemiology, data protection and data analysis.

3) Mass leakage of actual personal data is possible, including the formation and transfer of registers of landlords who rent out more than one apartment not only to tax authorities, but also to malefactors.

4) It is of serious concern that the collection and processing of personal data in this mode may become normal practice even after the end of the epidemic.

5) It is not clear what will happen to citizens who do not have access to the Internet, do not have the proper qualifications or physical ability to register on the portal."

It will also not be superfluous to note that, according to Art. 56 of our Constitution, the human right to privacy, personal and family secrets, as well as to the inadmissibility of collecting, storing, using and disseminating information about a person's private life without his consent are guaranteed to everyone, even in the event of an emergency across the country. Another probable reason for not introducing emergency situations throughout the country today, as noted by many users of the Russian Internet in the comments, is the obligation of the state in this case to pay all the expenses of citizens for housing and communal services for a given period. However, it is not evening yet.

Unfortunately, we can still agree with our ideological opponents, the liberals, on one thing: everything that is happening looks like a spur to even stricter measures of accounting and control of the population by the authorities. Moreover, the deadlines for the end of the application of these measures are not indicated at the moment.

In conclusion, we add that in the story of the confrontation with the coronavirus, the surprising synchronicity of tough "anti-quarantine" measures restricting the universally recognized rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as loud statements by internationally famous characters, is disturbing. For example, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week called on world leaders to create an interim form of global government to deal with both the medical and economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 virus pandemic.

“This is not a problem that countries can solve alone. A coordinated global response needed. This is, first of all, a medical emergency, and joint action is needed to resolve it. But the more you intervene to deal with a medical emergency, the more you jeopardize the economy.

We need some kind of functioning executive body. If I were again responsible for solving this problem, I would expand the G20, because in the current conditions it is necessary to listen to the views of the countries that are most affected by the crisis, the countries that are contributing to its resolution, and the countries where there is the problem could potentially affect a huge number of people - for example, in Africa, - quotes Brown British edition of The Guardian.

As you can see, the entire global "elite" and the servants of the "owners of money" have developed insane activity in connection with the pandemic declared by WHO and have already ceased to hide their true plans. Let's hope that for our authorities, the priority will always be to protect the life and health of citizens, as well as national security and unconditional sovereignty.