Privacy concerns rise as measures become more desperate to help people through the pandemic. As not everyone is following the social distance guidelines, questions on how to ensure the public health have brought in government surveillance as an option.

In California, there are over 43,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19,  in Los Angeles County alone there are nearly 20,000 confirmed cases. Strict social distance guidelines have been placed to help ensure safety, especially in heavily populated areas.

Governor Greg Abbott of Texas has set the stay at home order to expire on Apr. 30 at midnight. Not all businesses will reopen and those that do won’t be at the normal capacity.

On Apr. 30 protesters gathered around the Michigan State Capitol to end social distancing guidelines. Pictures that were uploaded to the UpNorthLive website show that the protesters were not staying six feet away from each other or wearing any form of face covers. 

USA Today reported on Apr. 28 that Apple and Google would be setting up apps in mid-May to help track who has been infected with the COVID-19 and if you have been in close proximity with a person who has the virus.

However, this leaves a lot of worry for potential users and their private information. People worry about who will have their direct information, and for how long.

Australia has already begun using this technology and about two million people have downloaded the app, COVIDSafe. Philip DeFranco, a popular YouTuber, recently posted a video to his channel discussing the progress Australia has made with digital tracking of the virus.

“Very notably here the app is not mandatory. If you want it you can get it and the Australian Government will not collect location data,” DeFranco stated.

The Australian Government pointed out that because it uses Bluetooth, the information is encrypted into the phone and no one, not even the user, can log into private information. The system will erase all data that’s been collected after 21 days on a repeated cycle.

The COVIDSafe app has no power to enforce isolation, restrictions, or any laws. All information concerning the app itself was given out by the health administrator of Australia and nothing has been set in law. 

“The app is already extremely popular,” DeFranco added as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison tweeted out on Apr. 27 that over 2 million people have downloaded the app.

DeFranco added the fact that the Australian government stated that in order for the app to become effective in slowing the spread of the virus, 40% of the population need to download the app. The Prime Minister also noted that the more people download the app, the sooner economical restrictions would be lifted.

The country reported that the daily infection growth-rate is less than 1%.

Google and Apple have stated that all apps would be completely voluntary, “Google says access is granted only to public health authorities whose apps have to meet standards for privacy, security and data control,” as reported on USA Today.

The tracking app would work similarly to the COVIDSafe app in Australia, in that it uses Bluetooth. The app would also delete information, or “codes” as it is referred.

All apps will be reviewed before being accessible to the public.

By: Gabriella Mendez

Staff Writer

Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic have become household names within the past few weeks; with everyone binging during the quarantine, “Tiger King” has emerged as one of Netflix’s top 10 series in the United States. 

Initially jumping between the perspectives of three owners of private zoos, the viewer expects nothing more than an exposé of the illegal animal trade, or perhaps an investigation of the government’s role in ignoring it. But the main appeal of the series is the lack of morality from nearly every party.

Among the initial three owners (Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, and Doc Antle), a moral hierarchy begins to form in the viewer’s mind. Joe prides himself in employing the less fortunate, Carole in her humane treatment of her animals, and Doc on…himself. But as the producers continue to introduce more characters — and yes, they are characters — it becomes clear that there is no single “bad guy”.

There seem to be only few people with a moral backbone, most notably “Saff”, Rick Kirkham, and Joshua Dial. All once employed by Joe Exotic, they are the closest thing to a voice of reason in this entire series. They provide testimony for the unthinkable claims made, and become the only people that the viewer can really believe — despite the fact that they are too have profited off of the illegal animal trade.

As the documentary carries on, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the outlandish stories and conspiracies brought to light: did Carol Baskin kill her husband? Were Joe’s husbands really gay? Is Doc Antle’s zoo a sex cult? These questions sweep the viewer into a gossipy and taboo narrative that ultimately has nothing to do with big cats. 

So much of the documentary focuses on the relationships of the zoo owners, that the lives of the animals fall into the background. The viewer completely forgets that the animals are guilty of nothing, and yet continue to be taken advantage of.

According to the New York Times, multiple interviewees had been told that the film was to be the “Blackfish” for big cats: referring to the 2013 documentary that exposed the dangerous and unethical practices of SeaWorld. The plight of the animals is only touched on in the last few moments of the series, which is admittedly upsetting.

After the premiere of the series, Netflix released a remote follow-up episode interviewing some of the key players. Erik Cowie, formerly employed by Joe Exotic, expressed his pure disdain for the now incarcerated Tiger King, saying that he was “here for the cats”. Offering even more insight into the workings of the zoos, the sequel answers a great deal of questions that the viewer may have afterwards.

Delving into the world of private zoos, “Tiger King” is more than a six-part documentary. Viewers are subjected to countless plot twists and absurd events straight out of a fever dream, but ultimately have to remember that the animals are still suffering. Regardless, the series is undeniably captivating, and should absolutely be binged in one sitting.

Eon Coffee is a restaurant on Hesperian Boulevard in Hayward, walking distance from Chabot College, one of many businesses that have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Eon has some savings, but coffee shops tend not to have big margins. The manager, Martin, hopes things will go back to normal soon.

“We are losing money, I don’t know exactly how much,” Martin explained. “But I’m afraid if I close, [we may] lose a lot of customers.”

The number of customers is now at one-third of normal. Eon has cut its slower evening hours to compensate, now closing at 5 p.m. instead of 10 p.m.

Eon has had to find alternative suppliers to get everything it needs. For instance, the bakery that used to deliver bread to Eon every day has slowed to three times a week and limited its options.

Chabot student Lucia goes to Eon about two times a semester but is “not buying from any coffee shops” right now.

Chabot student Antonio would consider picking up food to-go from Eon in the current situation. “I have been there a few different occasions, when I’m getting coffee before class or a sandwich or something.”

Customers stand at least six feet apart and employees regularly clean surfaces with disinfectants and bleach. The door is propped open so people do not need to touch the handle.

The manager allows the employees to decide if they feel safe to come to work each day and makes sure to provide masks and other equipment to those who did come.

Social distancing has allowed for a lot more downtime. TikTok is blowing up with more users and views joining the platform.

TikTok originally came out in 2016. It is an app where users can upload short videos for entertainment.

Musical.ly was a similar app that came out in 2014, the two apps were direct competitors.  Musical.ly was originally the more preferred until TikTok’s creators announced that they had over 500 million users a month in 2017.

The two apps merged under one name, TikTok. In 2018 Musical.ly officially shut down with its content being transferred to TikTok.

When first downloading you may find it a little boring or repetitive. But since you start liking and skipping over what you don’t like, it can become pretty addicting. With a wide variety of content, there’s a little bit of something for everyone. 

Tips for TikTok:

• Like Posts!: Millions of people may view a video, but only thousands may actually like the post. The app recommends similar videos to the ones you’ve liked under the “For You” page.
• TikTok highlights its top creators, leaving its smaller creators in the dark. Liking the content of the smaller guys helps them get noticed.
• If you want to upload videos to TikTok, there really isn’t much work to it. People post videos about everyday things. All that matters is what you want to post.
• For editing TikToks, many users would recommend using apps or another platform outside of TikTok for the best edits.

Jera Foster-Fell, a social media influencer, uploads tips on how to make TikToks. She shares tips on how to catch more attention and make videos more appealing. Her page is @jera.bean with 238.3k followers.

Many smaller creators have been uploading their talents on the app to show what they’ve been doing since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Sarah, who goes by @officalhambly is currently at 1.8 million followers and growing. She’s been making short videos on her latest project, Elsa’s dress from Frozen 2. 

Koalipops is run by @johndenim who makes cake videos. Some of his most famous uploads are of the Baby Yoda cake or the KFC bucket chicken. One of their most recent videos was of a cake modeling the COVID-19 Virus. 

TikTok has created large opportunities for its creators, who are now gaining attention from mainstream media. Charlie D’Amelio is only 15 years old and has acquired over 40 million followers within a year. She has gotten to know big celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and been invited to speak on various talk shows.

D’Amelio had received criticism in February for not crediting a popular dance, the Renegade, to its original creator Jalaiah Harmon. D’Amelio had received enormous amounts of fame for this dance, but Harmon had received her credit after D’Amelio’s backlash.  

Harmon was welcomed onto The Ellen DeGeneres Show and performed the Renegade in front of millions of viewers.

TikTok is simple and fun. While the world is going through this pandemic, there are still little outlets people can look towards for some pass time.

With the shelter in place and quarantine in place, a few gaming related companies are giving away a few free games to try and keep people home.

One of the companies giving away some free stuff is Sony. On the Playstation 4 if you go to the store you can download a digital copy of Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey.

They are calling it the Play At Home Initiative which has two parts to it. The first part is the two free games to download.

“Playstation will try to make those occasionally dull moments more exciting by offering Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey available for free* for a limited time through digital downloads…” says Sony President and CEO, Jim Ryan.

These will be available for free from April 15 to May 5, 2020. The big question here is are they going to remain on your account after the May 5 deadline or do they just get locked until you buy them after the deadline.

Interestingly enough in both China and Germany they are not receiving Uncharted but instead they are getting Knack 2.

The second part of the Play At Home Initiative is funding for independent developers.

“Independent developers are vital to the heart and soul of the gaming community…” Ryan said in an official statement. “We have earmarked $10 Million to support our independent development partners.” 

The Epic games store is also keeping up with its regularly rotating free games. Right now you can grab For The King until April 30 and the next one is Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Previously they had games like Just Cause 4, World War Z, Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.

Many people have lost their jobs or have been laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With that, there has been a massive influx of people applying for unemployment. 

What has been the governments response?

With the passing of the CARES Act, there has expanded the benefits of unemployment. Normally you would only get a portion of what you make back but now with the CARES Act you will receive an additional $600 weekly.

If you currently had unemployment benefits and they were going to expire now you can request an expansion due to the pandemic.

As a part of the CARES Act, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program has been established. The goal of this program is to help those who don’t usually qualify for unemployment such as “…business owners, self-employed, independent contractors, have limited work history, and others not usually eligible…”

“I had to help everyone in my family apply and some people at work. It’s not too hard. It only takes me about 20 minutes,” says Luis Lara, an unemployed college student. “The turn around feels like it’s been a lot longer, but I get why it is.”