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From laboratory in far west, China’s surveillance state spreads quietly

reuters.com

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Re: From laboratory in far west, China’s surveillance state spreads quietly

#11

Post by mherrmann »

assblaster wrote: post #4

I have first hand experience in Xinjiang a decade ago. Based on this report, it's gotten even worse. What I remember most was: 1) nearly hourly MMS messages to my flip phone from unknown numbers with an unknown attachment. Since my phone was bought outside China, the MMS attachment didn't automatically open the likely spyware. 2) Being followed and monitored by plainclothes policemen 3) Having my hotel room searched…

"Moving towards dictatorship" is an understatement imho. They're already there.

Re: From laboratory in far west, China’s surveillance state spreads quietly

#13

Post by notbeevil1 »

mherrmann wrote: post #11
assblaster wrote: post #4

I have first hand experience in Xinjiang a decade ago. Based on this report, it's gotten even worse. What I remember most was: 1) nearly hourly MMS messages to my flip phone from unknown numbers with an unknown attachment. Since my phone was bought outside China, the MMS attachment didn't automatically open the likely spyware. 2) Being followed and monitored by plainclothes policemen 3) Having my hotel room searched…

"Moving towards dictatorship" is an understatement imho. They're already there.

[flagged]

Re: From laboratory in far west, China’s surveillance state spreads quietly

#14

Post by Fuxy »

assblaster wrote: post #4

I have first hand experience in Xinjiang a decade ago. Based on this report, it's gotten even worse. What I remember most was: 1) nearly hourly MMS messages to my flip phone from unknown numbers with an unknown attachment. Since my phone was bought outside China, the MMS attachment didn't automatically open the likely spyware. 2) Being followed and monitored by plainclothes policemen 3) Having my hotel room searched…

They were never moving towards democracy they were always moving towards "democracy with Chinese characteristics".

All they ever wanted was to get all the benefits of democracy while staying a communist dictatorship which given the results so far they have succeeded in brilliantly.

In many ways they are now out competing other countries because they have way more power and leverage on where Chinese companies move or what they do based on they outcome of their political negotiations with other countries.

Not to mention they will never allow foreign companies to make money in China and instead they will favour the local "home grown" alternative or if there isn't one they will just steal it. There is a reason every foreign company is required to have local to be a part of the operations for them to be able to operate in China.

Some of the time the corporate investment doesn't even need to be profitable financially for the company just as long as it is profitable politically for China.

It's amazing how well China plays the game and frankly other Countries just can't compare at the moment. As an evil super villain I have to give kudos to how well they strip every freedom of their citizens even though I don't like any of it.

How do you even go about defending yourself from such mass surveillance beside giving up technology and when necessary encrypting and deleting everything you do while wearing a mask every time you leave the house?

Re: From laboratory in far west, China’s surveillance state spreads quietly

#15

Post by api »

131012 wrote: post #9
api wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To some extent yes, but it's a false equivalence to compare the USA and China. They're pushing surveillance further than our own intelligence agencies, and more importantly they have no bill of rights. I dare someone to try a Sasha Cohen act in China mocking the present leadership. You'd end up in a prison camp within a week. In America you can openly call the President and the ruling party hideous names, troll them,…

The main difference is legal/constitutional. Yet they use almost the same tools.

Legal/constitutional is the only difference that really matters. The tech is globally available to anyone. The law determines how it may be used.

Overall I think mass surveillance and other cyber-intrusions into civil liberties can only be realistically solved by legislation. It's far too easy to spy on a people who insist on carrying around little location-aware transponders and posting all their activities to the Internet. It's legislation that limits this, and much more importantly limits what it's legal for the government or private actors to do with this information.

Re: From laboratory in far west, China’s surveillance state spreads quietly

#16

Post by christophilus »

geogra4 wrote: post #6

They're just copying what the CIA/NSA has been doing for decades.

There's not an equivalency, though. In the US, at least in theory, we have a system that is founded on the idea that a human being has inalienable rights that come from their creator, and therefore are not arbitrary concessions of the state. China has no such concept.

China views a human being as merely material, and human rights as essentially arbitrary. This is not just a theoretical difference. It's as practical as it gets.

If the US does keep going down the road towards tyranny, it is in spite of it's foundation, not because of it, and its actions will be inconsistent with its own guiding principle. This foundational guiding principle of the US gives me some hope that we are not on in the middle of an inevitable collapse into tyranny.

Re: From laboratory in far west, China’s surveillance state spreads quietly

#17

Post by gonehome »

Fuxy wrote: post #14
assblaster wrote: post #4

I have first hand experience in Xinjiang a decade ago. Based on this report, it's gotten even worse. What I remember most was: 1) nearly hourly MMS messages to my flip phone from unknown numbers with an unknown attachment. Since my phone was bought outside China, the MMS attachment didn't automatically open the likely spyware. 2) Being followed and monitored by plainclothes policemen 3) Having my hotel room searched…

They were never moving towards democracy they were always moving towards "democracy with Chinese characteristics". All they ever wanted was to get all the benefits of democracy while staying a communist dictatorship which given the results so far they have succeeded in brilliantly. In many ways they are now out competing other countries because they have way more power and leverage on where Chinese companies move or…

Wearing a mask isn't enough because they're also working on gait recognition, you'd have to change up how you walk every time you leave too.

Re: From laboratory in far west, China’s surveillance state spreads quietly

#18

Post by padthai »

onetimemanytime wrote: post #3

This tech will be sold to every country in the world, completed with language files. Plug and play. That's the even sadder part.

I have a friend that worked developing Internet in Equatorial Guinea around 2014. He told me that in a couple of occasions, Chinese teams came there to install surveillance systems.

So this is already happening.

Re: From laboratory in far west, China’s surveillance state spreads quietly

#19

Post by stephengillie »

onetimemanytime wrote: post #3

This tech will be sold to every country in the world, completed with language files. Plug and play. That's the even sadder part.

Will AWS have it? Will they call this service the AWS HomeWatch? Can we use it to spy on our pizza and see why delivery is taking so long?

Re: From laboratory in far west, China’s surveillance state spreads quietly

#20

Post by panarky »

gonehome wrote: post #17
Fuxy wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were never moving towards democracy they were always moving towards "democracy with Chinese characteristics". All they ever wanted was to get all the benefits of democracy while staying a communist dictatorship which given the results so far they have succeeded in brilliantly. In many ways they are now out competing other countries because they have way more power and leverage on where Chinese companies move or…

Wearing a mask isn't enough because they're also working on gait recognition, you'd have to change up how you walk every time you leave too.

gait
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