The Chinese government's surveillance system to collect citizens' personal data is many times larger than assumed. Cell phone tracking devices are everywhere. So are cameras with facial recognition technology and devices to collect and process citizens' voiceprints.
That is according to research by The New York Times. The American newspaper spent a year examining more than 100,000 documents from the Chinese government. These came from the digital magazine ChinaFile of nonprofit organization Asia Society.
The papers contain information contracts for the provision of surveillance technology, product requirements and financial budgets. They paint a disconcerting picture of the establishment of a massive surveillance society. Chinese law requires such documents to be shared publicly. In reality, although they appear on the Internet, they are almost impossible to find. In addition, they are often quickly removed without notice, according to The New York Times.
According to the daily, the Chinese government's goal is crystal clear: It wants to design a system that will collect as much personal information about citizens as easily as possible. The government wants to know exactly where citizens are, who they are in contact with and what they are doing from day to day. Both business and leisure. In short, the government wants to establish a totalitarian regime, exactly as George Orwell described in his novel 1984.
There are an estimated one billion surveillance cameras in circulation worldwide. Half of them hang in China. For a long time, it was unclear exactly what the cameras were capturing. Research by The New York Times shows that the cameras are hung in strategic locations such as restaurants, hotels, shopping malls and travel agencies.
The goal is to collect as much data as possible, such as transportation flows of people and cars. In addition, many security cameras are equipped with facial recognition technology. When the images are studied, it is clear at a glance where someone was at a particular time.
Also, the cameras record special personal data, such as race, gender and physical characteristics. This data is merged with other data on government servers, according to The New York Times. This database, it says, contains more than 2.5 billion profile photos. According to the police, this is to maximally "monitor and control" people's behavior.
The Chinese government not only uses cameras to closely monitor its citizens. Devices such as WiFi-Sniffers and IMSI-Catchers are also widely deployed. A WiFi Sniffer automatically collects and transmits data sent over a wireless network. An IMSI-Catcher is a device that sets up a fake network to which mobile devices automatically connect.
These techniques make it possible to create a profile or digital footprint of someone and track them minutely. The documents show that Beijing police wanted to use these smartphone trackers to collect usernames and messages from popular Chinese social media applications. All 31 provinces and regions in China currently use these phone trackers.
The government also collects voiceprints on a large scale. The technology it uses to do this is so advanced that a voice can be recorded and analyzed within a hundred meters. Like the data collected through phone trackers and surveillance cameras, this information ends up in a government database.
Finally, iris scans and DNA samples are also kept in a database. An initial iris database goes back to 2017 to Xinjiang province. That is home to many Uighurs, an ethnic minority actively monitored and detained by the Chinese government. The police are investing heavily in this technology, they say, to combat crime.
According to The New York Times, at least 25 of the 31 counties have created a DNA database.
Despite the far-reaching invasion of Chinese citizens' privacy, the surveillance system has its limitations. The documents show that the government lacks a central database and analytical capabilities are not yet up to par. President Xi Jinping is making every effort to remedy these shortcomings.
As an example, The New York Times cites Megvii, the largest security company in China. The company has developed software that can aggregate all of a citizen's collected data into a single profile. Then you have to think not only about where this person goes and stands, but also what clothes he wears, what kind of car he drives, what devices he uses and how active he is on social media.
In a statement, Megvii said it is trying to make the community safer and it is not out to "monitor any particular group or individual."
There are doubts in the Lower House about the use of Chinese security cameras. An investigation by NOS revealed that dozens of Dutch municipalities have Hikvision or Dahua cameras hanging in public places and sensitive locations.
There are fears that manufacturers or the Chinese government could be watching through the cameras. They would then know exactly which dignitaries went where and when. "It is interesting for a foreign intelligence agency to take a look in there and see who all walks in," sinologist Ardi Bouwers told the news channel.
The VVD and D66 submitted written questions on the subject to Justice and Security Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius and Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra in March. In a response, the ministers wrote that they do not know how many cameras the government uses from manufacturers. They stress that rules have been drawn up for the purchase and use of digital products and services. These take into account, among other things, risks to national security.
