China’s Henan Province is building a spy system that uses facial scanning technology. that can detect journalists and other “person of concern”
A document seen by BBC News describes a system that categorizes reporters according to the types of traffic light colors: green, amber and red.
In the document it states Reporters in the “red” group will be “managed as appropriate”.
The Henan Provincial Public Security Service did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.
This document was discovered by IPVM, the spy analytics company. also revealed a spy plan Other “persons of concern” include international students. and women immigrants
Human Rights Watch said: “This is not a government that needs more power to trace more people … especially those who seek government accountability.”
“person of concern”
The document, released on July 29, is part of the process of submitting proposals for Chinese companies to a contract contest to build the new system. The company that won the auction on September 17 is NeuSoft.
NeuSoft has yet to respond to a request for comment from BBC News.
The system includes facial recognition technology connected to thousands of cameras in Henan. to notify the authorities when it is detected “person of concern”
The “person of concern” would be classified into a database that already existed in Henan Province. This system will also be connected to China’s national database.
“Major concern”
Among the groups that the Henan Provincial Public Security Administration pays attention to are journalists, including foreign journalists.
“The initial proposal would categorize journalists of concern into three levels,” the document said.
“The person in the red group is the main concern.”
“Second level, which is the yellow group. is someone who is in general concern.”
“Level three, which is a green group. is a harmless reporter.”
You will be notified immediately when found. “Worried reporters” who are in the red or yellow groups booked tickets to Henan Province. if they have previously been charged with a criminal offense
In addition, this system will assess international students. They were categorized according to their level of risk into three groups: “Excellent International Students Group, General Public and groups of important and insecure people.”
The document stated that “The safety assessment was made on the basis of international students’ daily class attendance, exam results, whether they are from a major country. and compliance with the rules of the educational institutions.”
The school itself must notify the authorities of any student safety concerns.
From there, people who are considered to be of concern are tracked.
during politically sensitive periods like the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress will be active “War period notification mechanism” and students will be tracked. The number of “great concerns” has been increasing, including tracking their cell phones.
such documents also stated the need for this system to collect data obtained from:
- mobile phone
- social media like WeChat and Weibo
- vehicle details
- hotel stay
- travel ticket
- property ownership
- Photos (from an existing database)
There is also a focus on “Residue women” or women who are non-Chinese immigrants. which has no right to live in China
Nowadays, there are many women seeking work in China.
Many were smuggled into several neighboring countries.
The system will “connect” to several agencies, including the National Immigration Office. Ministry of Public Security and the Henan Provincial Police Office
The document was released as the Chinese government criticized several foreign news agencies for their coverage of floods in Henan Province.
Conner Healey, director of IPVM, said: “There is still not much understanding of the technical structure of China’s massive spying… but the creation of surveillance technology specifically to enable the oppression of journalists is possible. More efficiency is new.”
“These documents illustrate what Chinese public security officials want from mass surveillance.”
China’s facial recognition system is expected to be deployed across the country now.
last year The Washington Post reports that Huawei has tested artificial intelligence software that can recognize the faces of ethnic Uighurs and alert the police.
Sophie Richardson, Human Rights Watch’s China director, said: “This goal is frightening. let everyone know They can be watched. and will be watched They don’t know What motivates them to be viewed as hostile?”
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news BBCThai published on the website fresh news It is a collaboration of two news organizations.
