Australia border relief brings unease over 'Orwellian' quarantines

Critics question need for facial recognition during home isolation

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Australia is set to open up for more international travel, but its home quarantine trials have raised some eyebrows. © Getty Images

ERIC MEIJER, Contributing writer

SYDNEY -- Australia's spreading pilot programs to let travelers quarantine in the privacy of their own homes are drawing criticism from some quarters for invading that privacy.

Across Asia and elsewhere, countries have deployed various technologies to help fight COVID-19, from contact tracing apps to QR-code check-ins for entering establishments. But some see Australian authorities' use of facial recognition and geolocation to enforce home quarantines as a step down a slippery slope, even as efforts to reopen borders come as a relief.

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