Could Covid-19 cause a rise in government surveillance in Brazil?

Just over a month after the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in Brazil, the country is taking its first concrete measures to combat the virus. In public health, many states — such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo — have adopted social isolation to contain the spread of the virus and closed any businesses that are not considered essential. 

The federative structure of Brazil means that state and municipal governments have a varying degree of authority to decide over certain measures within their boundaries. Isolation policies come under these devolved powers, and each state and municipality is following the path it sees fit. Some have moved toward tech and surveillance, with the northeastern city of Recife using cell phones to detect and crack down on public gatherings.

Using cell phone connections to the municipality’s antennas, authorities can determine whether there are large numbers of people in one place. When these agglomerations are detected, the cell phones in question receive warning messages from public health agencies asking them to remain at home. So far, 800,000 people have been screened, and 120,000 have been notified for breaching social isolation rules.

Rio de Janeiro is studying a similar policy, but without notifying infractors. The technology offered by TIM is the same used in Italy...