Hong Kong sees rush for burner phones as government pushes contact-tracing app

HONG KONG: Electronics shops in Hong Kong have seen a sharp increase in demand for cheap burner phones as the Chinese-ruled city’s government eases coronavirus restrictions but pushes the use of a contact-tracing app which has raised privacy concerns.

The former British colony saw anti-government and anti-China protests erupt in 2019 and a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 in response, along with the arrest of most of its prominent pro-democracy activists.

The swift authoritarian turn taken by the government, which denies curbing the rights and freedoms of the special administrative region’s 7.5 million residents, has resulted in deep-seated mistrust of public policies, including of measures to curb the coronavirus.