#surveillance in China

[xeoniq]

[quotesfrommyreading]

The Chinese government says that its policies in Xinjiang are intended to curb terrorism and separatism, and that the camps provide instruction in Chinese language and other skills to people who might be susceptible to extremist ideas.

But the Karakax spreadsheet shows how officials have monitored minute details of daily life to find targets for detention as Chen Quanguo, the Communist Party boss in Xinjiang, ordered officials to “round up everyone who should be rounded up.”

The authorities scrutinized three generations of each detainee’s family, as well as their neighbors and friends. Officials in charge of monitoring mosques reported on how actively the residents participated in ceremonies, including the naming of children, circumcision, weddings and funerals.

The list specified whether detainees learned about religion from parents and grandparents or elsewhere. Dozens were listed as having a “heavy religious environment” at home — a designation that was often followed by a recommendation that they not be released.

The authorities also studied how many times a day detainees prayed and whether they took part in — or were even interested in — religious pilgrimages.

Outward signs of piety were also recorded. “Wore a beard from March 2011 to July 2014,” reads a description of one detainee related to several people who had been sent to camps. Officials categorized as “trustworthy” another man, the father of two detainees, who had cut off his beard and started drinking alcohol after a year of abstaining.

  —  How China Tracked Detainees and Their Families

[probablyasocialecologist]

My observations of Northwest China illustrate the way that contemporary colonial projects tend toward the “operational enclosure,” which describes a digitally-mediated social hierarchy in which the movement and behaviour of certain racialized populations are made automatically detectable and thus controllable, while privileged settler populations are permitted to move around in a relatively frictionless way—for instance, doors are opened automatically for them by security workers who profile them, or by camera systems that identify them as non-Muslim. Coined by communications scholars Mark Andrejevic and Zala Volcic, this form of enclosure is being adapted by government agencies and corporations across the Global South to slot marginalized populations into the operative logics of actionable intelligence. For privileged settlers, a seamless digitally integrated society brings them pride in the advancement of their country’s capabilities along with consumer convenience. For Muslims, on the other hand, the operational enclosure provokes intense fear. 

In Northwest China, advanced dataveillance technology is key in producing an efficient settler colonial state that can classify and segment its inhabitants. Two interrelated phenomena are at play here, one regarding the technology itself and the other about how it molds social reality. First, the technology is a black box—security workers do not really understand how it works beyond the reductive readouts they see on their screen: 99.11 percent match. Orange tag. Potentially “untrustworthy.” 

Second, in practice these simplistic characterizations and predictions come to be seen as truth. The technology is viewed as an unquestioned authoritative good, since it is perceived as scientific and state-of-the-art intelligence. The predictions made become legally enforced truths.  

Together, these two elements, the digital black box and the legal and social discourse of technological intelligence, are producing one of the first mass experiments in the colonial operational enclosure.

[jackass-democrats]

Why Socialist Democrats want the National or Digital ID.

As always, never buy anything made in china. Don't ever trust a democrat and NEVER leave your child alone with one.

[cctvarchive]

JINZHOU, CHINA.

[creativemedianews]

China and Myanmar have the ‘worst environment’ for internet freedom

China and Myanmar have the ‘worst environment’ for internet freedom #censorship #China #Elections #FreedomHouse

[memenewsdotcom]

China spy balloon part of large program

[relaxedstyles]

China's surveillance state is moving into the west. And its not all facial recognition.

[kngshuen]

How Increased Surveillance by the China Government during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic Affects Online Communities?

In the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, governments worldwide, including China, intensified surveillance measures to curb the virus's spread. In this context, China's implementation of stringent surveillance, notably through Health Code Apps, has raised profound concerns about its impact on online communities. As facial recognition and data collection become intrinsic to daily life, the potential repercussions on digital spaces and the people within them demand careful examination. This discussion delves into the multifaceted consequences of increased surveillance by the Chinese government and its tangible effects on the dynamics of online communities.

Privacy Erosion

In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, various countries implemented measures to track and control the virus's spread, introducing tools such as contact tracing apps (Ojokoh et al., 2022), temperature checks (Qu & Lv, 2021) and travel restrictions (Burns et al., 2021). Simultaneously, In China, where stringent surveillance measures were already in place, the government leveraged technology to an even greater extent, using facial recognition and health QR codes to monitor citizens' movements. This involved the deployment of a series of applications known as "Health Code Apps," which have raised concerns about privacy erosion, particularly regarding the use of health code applications. Online communities are not immune to this erosion, as the data collected through these apps includes personal information, health status, and location details. This data is then utilized to assign one of three colours, indicating the user's health status (Ramos, 2020). However, Data is funnelled to entities like the provincial Big Data Bureau, Alibaba, and the telecommunications department, expanding the accessibility to user information, ranging from personal details to health status, location, and device specifics. This centralized model amplifies the risks of data aggregation and user re-identification, exemplified by the Beijing Health Bao system's data leak in December 2020. The incident exposed the photographs, ID numbers, and nucleic acid test information of celebrities, highlighting insufficient safeguards in place (Zhang, 2022). Online communities may find their members exposed to privacy breaches, leading to a chilling effect on open communication and expression within these digital spaces.

Potential for Abuse of Power:

The potential for the abuse of power in the context of surveillance, inadequate transparency and compliance measures is a significant concern for online communities as well. This concern is exemplified by recent events in Henan Province, where health code apps were allegedly manipulated to suppress protests related to potential losses in rural banks on the brink of collapse (Zhang, 2022). The legitimacy of these health code apps faced a setback as city officials marked over a thousand individuals as red, restricting their entry into Zhengzhou City and highlighting the vulnerability of such systems to misuse (Zhang, 2022). This incident underscores the potential for health code apps, initially designed for public health purposes, to transform into tools of surveillance, allowing government agencies to exert control under the guise of maintaining public health. The lack of stringent transparency requirements heightens the risk of these technologies being misused for purposes beyond their intended scope, which negatively impacts the freedom of expression within online communities. As governments exploit surveillance tools to monitor and influence online discussions, online communities may face challenges related to censorship and control, further emphasising the interconnected nature of surveillance concerns and their impact on digital spaces.

Technological Dependence:

Embracing extensive surveillance often involves a reliance on advanced technologies. In the case of Health Code Apps, facial recognition technology is integrated into residential area access control systems, permitting entry only to those with a green code (Ramos, 2020), which has implications for online communities. This reliance on advanced technologies may neglect more human-centric approaches to online interaction, potentially excluding or disadvantaging certain members of digital communities. As surveillance technologies become integral to online platforms, the balance between security measures and preserving the inclusivity and diversity of online communities becomes a critical consideration.

Trust Deficit:

The colour-coded system assigned by health code applications has far-reaching consequences for millions of users in their interactions within both physical and online communities. Requiring individuals to display their health codes in public transportation, shopping malls, markets, and other public places may contribute to a trust deficit between citizens and the online platforms they engage with (Jao et al., 2020). Users within online communities may question the motives behind such surveillance measures, especially if their personal information is shared without their knowledge. Rebuilding trust within online communities, once eroded by mandatory health code reliance, poses a considerable challenge, impacting the dynamics of digital social spaces.

In conclusion, the surge in surveillance by the Chinese government amid the global COVID-19 pandemic undeniably leaves a lasting imprint on online communities. The colour-coded system mandated by health code applications not only infiltrates public spaces but also infiltrates the very essence of digital interactions. This imposition triggers a tangible trust deficit within online communities as individuals question the motives behind these surveillance measures. Rebuilding trust within these virtual spaces, essential for vibrant and open communication, becomes a formidable challenge in the aftermath of mandatory health code reliance. The delicate equilibrium between bolstering security measures and safeguarding the inclusivity of online communities emerges as the linchpin for preserving the dynamic and diverse nature of these digital spaces. In essence, the impact of increased surveillance by the Chinese government is intimately intertwined with the well-being and resilience of online communities.

"Considering the implications of increased surveillance by the Chinese government during the global COVID-19 pandemic on online communities, we'd like to hear your perspective. How do you perceive the effects on privacy erosion, potential abuse of power, technological dependence, and the trust deficit within these digital spaces? Share your insights and cast your vote below."

Reference List

Burns, J., Movsisyan, A., Stratil, J. M., Biallas, R. L., Coenen, M., Emmert-Fees, K., Geffert, K., Hoffmann, S., Horstick, O., Laxy, M., Klinger, C., Kratzer, S., Litwin, T., Norris, S. L., Pfadenhauer, L. M., Von Philipsborn, P., Sell, K., Stadelmaier, J., Verboom, B., . . . Rehfuess, E. (2021). International travel-related control measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic: a rapid review. The Cochrane Library, 2021(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd013717.pub2

Jao, N., Cohen, D., & Udemans, C. (2020). How China is using QR code apps to contain Covid-19. TechNode. https://technode.com/2020/02/25/how-china-is-using-qr-code-apps-to-contain-covid-19/

Ojokoh, B. A., Aribisala, B. S., Sarumi, O. A., Gabriel, A. J., Omisore, O. M., Taiwo, A. E., Igbe, T., Chukwuocha, U. M., Yusuf, T. A., Afolayan, A., Babalola, O., Adebayo, T., & Afolabi, O. (2022). Contact Tracing Strategies for COVID-19 Prevention and Containment: A scoping review. Big Data and Cognitive Computing, 6(4), 111. https://doi.org/10.3390/bdcc6040111

Qu, J., & Lv, X. (2021). The response measures to the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak in China. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofab014

Ramos, L. F. (2020). Evaluating privacy during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The ACM Digital Library, 176–179. https://doi.org/10.1145/3428502.3428526

Zhang, X. (2022). Decoding China’s COVID-19 health code apps: the legal challenges. Healthcare, 10(8), 1479. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10081479

[xeoniq]

[commonsensecommentary]

“I cannot imagine a worse circumstance in which to have Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in charge of our nation’s defenses.”

[tomorrowusa]

Historian Michael Beschloss [@BeschlossDC] reminds us of a 1960 incident when the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 surveillance aircraft over its territory.

The late CBS correspondent Walter Cronkite explained the U-2 crisis in this 2005 piece at NPR.

Loss of Spy Plane Sabotaged 1960 Summit

Just as the U-2 incident disrupted President Eisenhower’s summit with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the recent balloon incident caused the cancellation of an important diplomatic meeting between Xi Jinping and Sec. of State Anthony Blinken.

Of course this time it will be the United States putting on display the remnants of a foreign surveillance device shot down over its territory.

@npr

[canadianabroadvery]

Camouflage of a different tier in Hong Kong - a projector that displays a different face than yours to fool cameras and save social score.

[emptyanddark]

...contemporary colonial projects tend toward the “operational enclosure,” which describes a digitally-mediated social hierarchy in which the movement and behaviour of certain racialized populations are made automatically detectable and thus controllable, while privileged settler populations are permitted to move around in a relatively frictionless way. [...] this form of enclosure is being adapted by government agencies and corporations across the Global South to slot marginalized populations into the operative logics of actionable intelligence. For privileged settlers, a seamless digitally integrated society brings them pride in the advancement of their country’s capabilities along with consumer convenience. For Muslims, on the other hand, the operational enclosure provokes intense fear."

"...advanced dataveillance technology is key in producing an efficient settler colonial state that can classify and segment its inhabitants. Two interrelated phenomena are at play here, one regarding the technology itself and the other about how it molds social reality. First, the technology is a black box—security workers do not really understand how it works beyond the reductive readouts they see on their screen: 99.11 percent match. Orange tag. Potentially “untrustworthy.” Second, in practice these simplistic characterizations and predictions come to be seen as truth. The technology is viewed as an unquestioned authoritative good, since it is perceived as scientific and state-of-the-art intelligence. The predictions made become legally enforced truths. Together, these two elements, the digital black box and the legal and social discourse of technological intelligence, are producing one of the first mass experiments in the colonial operational enclosure.

A more nuanced view of contemporary colonialisms attempts to show how these different forms of imperialism are entangled with each other and how they need to be opposed simultaneously.