Counterterrorism Tools Deployed Against Virus Spur Privacy Fears

An Israeli tech company that specializes in counterterrorism spyware is working with a dozen countries to slow the spread of an invisible enemy known as Covid-19. In China, authorities have deployed facial-recognition software and location tracking in their fight against the coronavirus. And a U.S. big data company with connections to intelligence agencies is talking to governments about how it can help.

It’s not surprising that algorithms and artificial intelligence have been recruited to fight a pandemic threatening millions of lives. Yet around the world, surveillance measures normally used against terrorists and criminals are raising privacy and civil liberties concerns, ...