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#BigBrother
Surveillance Cameras in Mong Kok to upgrade to 4K Lens by April; Government Denies Facial Recognition

Editor's Notes: It’s noteworthy that Mong Kok are venues where pro-democracy demonstration take place.

According to Cable News, a fund was granted by the previous Yau-Tsim-Mong District Council to install 4k lens in the surveillance camera at the height of Sai Yeung Choi West Street by April this year.

Introduced 11 years ago following acid spilling incident in Mong Kok, the last District Council further expanded usage of surveillance footage from investigating falling objects from height to any criminal cases. The video footage will be kept for 30 days and police can apply to extract footage of up to six hours before and after an incident.

The Operational Guidelines of the Home Affairs Department state that the video is shot at a fixed angle and range and will not point to any apartment unit. They said facial recognition will not be applied.

Source: Cable News #Mar18 #PoliceState
#MassSurveillance #CCPControl
Chinese company with CCP's Military and Intelligence Network Surveys the World

A Chinese company, Zhenhua Data, with links to Beijing's military and intelligence networks has been amassing a vast database of detailed personal information on prominent and influential figures, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, members of the royal family, Australian Prime Minister Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Naomohan Modi, military officers, celebrities, entrepreneurs, journalists, accountants, academics, scientists, as well as criminals and politically sensitive people.

The database of 2.4 million people has been leaked from the Shenzhen-based company is believed to be used by China's intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security. Of the 250,000 records recovered, there are 52,000 on Americans, 35,000 Australians, 10,000 Indian, 9,700 British, 5,000 Canadians, 2,100 Indonesians, 1,400 Malaysia and 138 from Papua New Guinea.

While much of the information has been "scraped" from open-source material, some profiles have information which appears to have been sourced from confidential bank records, job applications and psychological profiles. The company is believed to have sourced some of its information from the so-called "dark web".

One intelligence analyst said the database goes much further that of "Cambridge Analytica”, suggesting a complex global operation using artificial intelligence to trawl publicly available data to create intricate profiles of individuals and organisations, potentially probing for compromise opportunities.

The database was leaked to a US academic based in Vietnam, Professor Chris Balding, who until 2018 had worked at the elite Peking University before leaving China citing fears for his physical safety.

"China is absolutely building out a massive surveillance state both domestically and internationally.” “I think it speaks to the broader threat of what China is doing and how they are surveilling, monitoring and seeking to influence… not just their own citizens, but citizens around the world." Professor Balding told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Source: ABC #Sep15

Read full article :
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-14/chinese-data-leak-linked-to-military-names-australians/12656668

#Zhenhua #CCPControl #MassSurveillance #BigBrother
#MassSurveillance #BigBrother
Covid-19: China pushes for QR Code based global travel system

In the G20 summit, Xi Jinping pushed QR codes which could be used to recognize “health certificates based on nucleic acid test result.

Human Rights advocates want that the codes could be used for “broader political monitoring and exclusion”. And the codes are based on a combination of big data and information submitted by the users themselves.

Chinese QR codes was developed by financial technology giant Ant Financial, and is available through its main app Alipay, but also on WeChat, which belongs to Alipay’s competitor Tencent.

Source: BBC #Nov23

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55039662

#China #G20Summit #QRcode #Covid19 #HealthCode #Privacy #BigData
#MassSurveillance #BigData
Hong Kong Government Installs 1,200 Bluetooth Detectors on Major Roads

The Transport Department in Hong Kong has completed the installation of 1,200 sets of traffic detectors on major roads at the end of 2020, despite public concerns about the privacy of the "smart lampposts".

The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (#OGCIO) in Hong Kong did remove the cameras and Bluetooth traffic detectors from the lampposts in May 2020. However, other departments continued to install Bluetooth detectors on other lampposts.

These detectors include video detectors, Bluetooth detectors and automatic license plate recognition detectors. The Bluetooth detectors, which can detect drivers and passengers' Bluetooth devices such as personal phones, headphones and smartwatches.

The IT industry stated that the Department did not consult the industry before installation, nor find the best technical solution to protect citizen’s privacy.

The Transport Department claimed that it has done a privacy risk assessment, and the collected Bluetooth data will be deleted.

Leo To, Executive Committee of the HK Wireless Technology Industry Association believes that there are many alternative solutions to detect vehicle speed that doesn’t require a collection of personal device data, such as the most traditional radar, the existing lens, the latest optical radar.

He said that he cannot understand why the Department chose to use a technology that “can possibly turn surveillance into monitoring".

In Mid-2019, the Hong Kong Government launched 50 smart lampposts in the Kwun Tong/Kai Tak Development Area which raised privacy concerns and were partially destroyed during the anti-extradition movement.

The government subsequently set up a technical advisory committee to review the plan, the committee's report recommended the use of thermal detectors, optical radar (#LiDAR) instead of cameras, and "more privacy-friendly" technology instead of Bluetooth detectors to detect vehicle speed and identify different types of vehicles. If the results are satisfactory, it is expected to be installed in the existing smart lampposts for field testing in the middle of this year.

Francis Fong Po-Kiu, A member of the Multi-functional Smart Lampposts Technical Advisory Ad Hoc Committee, requests the Department to provide relevant information to the public, including the exact location of all detectors, the information collected, the technology used, the privacy report results, and whether it will be used for law enforcement purposes.

Source: MingPao #March25

#Privacy #SmartLamppost #BigBrother

http://news.mingpao.com/pns2103251616610400825

http://news.mingpao.com/pns2103251616610404390
#MassSurveillance #Privacy
Media in the Netherlands: #Huawei Might Have Sent Users' Data to China

According to the media outlet de Volkskrant in the Netherlands, the local telecommunication company Telfort was aware sincec 2011 that the Chinese phone manufacturer Huawei could access the data of over millions of users without a trace.

This is revealed in an internal report of KPN, the parent company of Telport; however, the company has never informed relevant department such as the Data Protection Authority (#DPA) and their customers.

Scholars pointed out the possibilty of having the data channeled to China, although Huawei denied that data has been shared.

Source: Stand News #Mar31

https://www.thestandnews.com/international/%E5%A4%96%E5%AA%92-%E8%8F%AF%E7%82%BA%E6%9B%BE%E5%8F%AF%E4%B8%8D%E7%95%99%E7%97%95%E8%B7%A1%E5%AD%98%E5%8F%96%E8%8D%B7%E8%98%AD%E9%9B%BB%E8%A8%8A%E5%95%86%E9%81%8E%E7%99%BE%E8%90%AC%E7%94%A8%E6%88%B6%E8%B3%87%E6%96%99/

#Telport #KPN #Telecommunication #BigData #BigBrother
#MassSurveillance
Watching You: Face-Recognition Forcibly Installed in Housing Estates in Hong Kong

It is found that some security contractors of a Hong Kong’s housing estate have forcibly added face recognition technology to their security systems, causing great discontent among residents.

For instance, the installations in Fullview Garden in Siu Sai Wan are provided by #Hikivision, a state-owned Chinese enterprise which has high-resolution cameras with up to a 99% accuracy for recognition.

Source: Unwire HK #May7
https://unwire.hk/2021/05/07/cnsordoor/fun-tech/

#MassSurveillance #BigBrother #FacialRecognition
#ChineseEnterprise
#BigBrother
British Minister Resigned Over Affair Scandal; CCTV footage Comes from Chinese enterprises monitoring Xinjiang 

 

Source: Stand News #Jun29

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#BigBrother
British Minister Resigned Over Affair Scandal; Surveillance Camera Comes from Chinese enterprises monitoring Xinjiang 
 
British Secretary of Health Matt Hancock, who was married, was revealed to have kissed a colleague, who was also married, in his office. Matt has resigned on 26 June, 2021.

What alarmed the British government the most is the leakage of the surveillance camera footage of Matt's office.

According to the media, the camera was menufactured by the Chinese company Hikvision, which provides CCP with equipment to monitor Xinjiang. The company has been blacklisted by the United States for violating human rights in Uyghur.
 
Although British security officers claimed that there was a low chance that the incident involved countries that are hostile to the UK, British politicians called on the government to pay attention to China-made monitoring devices.

British Labour Party member Conor McGinn indicated that "the problem is not just about the scandal of Matt Hancock being exposed, but the security crisis within the British government“.

McGinn demanded the goverment to respond to how "a private company that has a connection with China can reach the depth of Whitehall”.
 
Source: Stand News #Jun29

https://bit.ly/3wUcHQs

#UnitedKingdom #Xinjiang #Uyghurs #Monitoring #MattHancock #Privacy #Blacklist #China #Politics  
#MassSurveillance
#TikTok Browser Can Track Users’ Keystrokes, According to New Research

// The web browser used within the TikTok app can track every keystroke made by its users, according to new research that is surfacing as the Chinese-owned video app grapples with U.S. lawmakers’ concerns over its data practices.

The research from Felix Krause, a privacy researcher and former Google engineer, did not show how TikTok used the capability, which is embedded within the in-app browser that pops up when someone clicks an outside link. But Mr. Krause said the development was concerning because it showed TikTok had built in functionality to track users’ online habits if it chose to do so.

Collecting information on what people type on their phones while visiting outside websites, which can reveal credit card numbers and passwords, is often a feature of malware and other hacking tools. While major technology companies might use such trackers as they test new software, it is not common for them to release a major commercial app with the feature, whether or not it is enabled, researchers said. //

Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/19/technology/tiktok-browser-tracking.html

Source: New York Times #Aug19

#BigBrother #CreditCard #Privacy
Surveillance for All: China Pushes for Permanent Health Code by 2025

Source: Radio Free Asia #Nov10

#CCP #SurveillanceState #WuhanPneumonia #HealthCode #BigData #BigBrother

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Surveillance for All: China Pushes for Permanent Health Code by 2025

Although the #WHO had clearly stated that there had been a drastic 90% decrease in COVID deaths across the world, China had not embraced this optimistic view. Instead, it has declared a goal of making the Health QR Code mandatory for everyone in the country by 2025, enforcing a long-term, real-time surveillance for its citizens.

On Nov 9, The National Health Commission of China announced on its website that by 2025, every Chinese citizen will have a dynamically-managed electronic health file and a fully-functional electronic health code. The announcement is jointly published by the National Health Commission, State Administration of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the announcement, the health code systems currently in use are run by each province separately, and the systems from different provinces do not generally recognize each other's codes. In response, the central government aims to create a basic, inter-connected surveillance platform by 2025, in which each resident will have a dynamically-managed electronic health file and a fully-functional electronic health code.

With such a system in place, the Chinese government will be able to leverage big data to trace the so-called "high-risk individuals", establishing a long-term, real-time surveillance and control of the Chinese populace.

Source: Radio Free Asia #Nov10

https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/code-11102022062758.html

see also:
"Encode us": Health Code, or is it CCP's Social Credit System? (Aug 17, 2020)
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24283

#CCP #SurveillanceState #WuhanPneumonia #HealthCode #BigData #BigBrother
China Establishes Bureau to Take "Special Care" of High Net Worth Individuals

Sources: Commons HK #Nov10

#BigData #BigBrother #HNWI #ChivesHarvesting

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China Establishes Bureau to Take "Special Care" of High Net Worth Individuals

China has established a new bureau to oversee citizens with over $10 million in their bank accounts, Asia Finance reports.

The "High-Net-Worth Individuals Management Bureau" will build up a database of taxpayer profiles using their electronic records. Citizens moving out of China are also targeted for further scrutiny, to ensure that they fully pay the requisite taxes for cancelling their household registration before leaving the country.

The bureau will enact a four-pronged approach to take "special care" of these high-net-worth individuals: to strengthen surveillance on non-taxable businesses, information sharing, verification, and "cloud-ification". New departments will be created to enable information exchange with the People's Bank of China, as well as verifying these individuals mobile phones and various registrations.

This is seen as the first policy enacted since President Xi Jinping's proposal for "common prosperity" in the National People's Congress earlier this year. To support these changes, the tax department plans to hire an additional 25,000 staff, accounting for 67% of new hiring this year, an increase of 3.3% from last year.

These increases in government spending and surveillance imply that the rich in China will need to pay an increasingly higher price if they wish to move their money overseas.

Sources: Commons HK #Nov10

cmmns.co/gBwBb

Asia Finance
https://twitter.com/AsiaFinance/status/1589820298416660480

#BigData #BigBrother #HNWI #ChivesHarvesting