If you are a Turkish coronavirus patient with a cellphone, the government likely has its eye on you.
Authorities in Turkey announced on Wednesday that the country will begin monitoring the mobile phones of people diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus to enforce strict quarantines and ensure those with the illness do not leave their homes.
People being monitored will receive a message and a call from the government if they leave their homes that will ask them to return. Those who repeatedly flout the quarantine restrictions are subject to penalties, according to Reuters. Turkish law allows the government to process personal data without the user’s consent for “exceptional aims.”
The Turkish government said it would not be using the data collected during the coronavirus pandemic for any reason other than to ensure compliance with the quarantine.
Turkey has had more than 34,000 cases of the coronavirus that have resulted in at least 725 deaths, according to the most recent count by Johns Hopkins University.
