Beijing, Shanghai to exclude COVID-19 cases personal information

A typical comment reads, "Compared with publicizing the sex, age, and profession of the infected person, which only increases their psychological pressure, this kind of reporting that does not expose privacy is worth advocating." 

The society-wide discussion online on how to scientifically and reasonably release the reports of the epidemiological investigations shows Chinese people are more concerned about whether the individual privacy is protected in the current epidemic prevention and control work.

According to Xinhua News Agency, at least 10 epidemiological investigation reports have been leaked in Shijiazhuang, Chengdu, Shenyang, Hangzhou and other cities in China since last November, causing secondary damage to the COVID-19 patients and negatively affecting China's epidemic prevention and control work.

The epidemiological information is leaked mainly through online social media platforms, in situations such as some staff engaged in epidemiological surveys privately sharing the epidemiological report on WeChat groups of their relatives and friends, or some netizens spreading the information actively on social networks based on personal information clues disclosed by the authorities out of curiosity, desire to seek attention or self-belief of "just behavior," which have repeatedly led to cyber-violence with patients' private lives frequently targeted, Xinhua reported.

"What was worse than being infected with COVID-19 was that from the moment I received the positive virus test report, my phone didn't stop ringing and my personal information was posted online as if I was a wanted criminal," Zhang Peng (pseudonym), a truck driver from Gaocheng district, the epicenter of Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei Province, told the Global Times on Sunday.