MOSCOW – When nurse Maria Alexeyeva caught coronavirus at work, she isolated herself at home and followed the rules set down by Moscow authorities: She checked in with doctors regularly, didn’t leave her apartment and downloaded a smartphone app required by the city to keep tabs on quarantined patients.
The Social Monitoring app tracks users via GPS and sends them random notifications demanding a selfie to prove they're still at home.
If it detects they've left home or they fail to provide a photo, they face a fine of about $56 each time. But soon the app became a nightmare for Alexeyeva.
It crashed when she tried to take a photo. Weak with illness, she struggled with the software for days, sometimes on hold for hours with technical