South Korea has gone a step further than other countries, tracking individuals' phones and creating a publicly available map to allow other citizens to check whether they may have crossed paths with any coronavirus patients.
The tracking data that goes into the map isn't limited to mobile phone data, credit card records and even face-to-face interviews with patients are being used to build a retroactive map of where they've been.
Not only is the map there for citizens to check, but the South Korean government is using it to proactively send regional text messages warning people they may have come into contact with someone carrying the virus.
The location given can be extremely specific, the Washington Post reported a text went out that said an infected person had been at the "Magic Coin Karaoke in Jayang-dong at midnight on Feb. 20."
Some texts give out more personal information however. A text reported by The Guardian read: "A woman in her 60s has just tested positive. Click on the link for the places she visited before she was hospitalised."
The director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jeong Eun-kyeong, acknowledged that the site infringes on civil liberties, saying: "It is true that public interests tend to be emphasized more than human rights of individuals when dealing with diseases that can infect others."
The map is already interfering with civil liberties, as a South Korean woman told the Washington Post that she had stopped attending a bar popular with lesbians for fear of being outed. "If I unknowingly contract the virus... that record will be released to the whole country," she said.
The system is also throwing up other unexpected challenges. The Guardian reported that one man claiming to be infected threatened various restaurants saying he would visit and hurt their custom unless they gave him money to stay away.