China has played up its use of big data in its attempt to manage the outbreak, touting it as one of the reasons it has successfully contained the virus’ spread. But there are concerns that the information collected – from travel data to places where one frequents – could be used for other means, said Assoc Prof Alan Chong of the RSIS. “Once the genie is out of the bottle, can you really put it back in?” he said, referring to when data has been collected.