Balanced News: China can still use big data to control citizens despite ditching COVID-19 app

The Chinese government still has access to vast amounts of data on its citizens’ movements, despite pausing a hugely unpopular COVID-19 tracker app in the wake of nationwide protests, analysts told Radio Free Asia in recent interviews. China paused the use of its “Health Code” smartphone app tracking citizens’ COVID-19 status as well as their movements in and out of high-risk areas on Dec. 13, as part of overall loosening of the zero-COVID policy. “The government will continue to manage and monitor the whole of society using big data,” Yang said.