Does this affect foreigners? If I have a AT&T plan, it should work out-of-box in China via roaming? Hope that is the case...
when I visited 6 months ago, a face scan was required to enter the country, so they're going to get it either way.
Chinese telecoms must use "AI and other technical means" to identify phone users
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Re: Chinese telecoms must use "AI and other technical means" to identify phone users
#32[deleted]
Re: Chinese telecoms must use "AI and other technical means" to identify phone users
#33I searched for the law. They need a photo id for a new phone number to reduce phone scams. I think it is good.
Spammers don't use cell phones to make their calls. Most often they just spoof calls using random peoples phone numbers. This would have no effect on spam calls. (I assume you mean phone-spam when you say phone scam?)
Not to be paranoid, but you really created a HN account just to add this comment?
Re: Chinese telecoms must use "AI and other technical means" to identify phone users
#34When a nation is a superpower, it is able to influence the behavior of weaker states. It will exert its influence for a variety of reasons, but it is inevitable that with power comes the exertion of influence. China will use its power to prop up autocratic regimes across the world and export its technology and methods to make such autocracy possible and sustainable. China represents a threat to global democracy which…
Without agreeing or disagreeing with them, we should accept that people have said exactly the same things about the USA, about the Soviet Union, about Russia, about Britain... And on and on. I am not trying to play “whatabout,” but I do ask: Is there anything different about China’s behaviour as a superpower? Or are we just seeing a shift in which superpowers have world influence? At the moment I write this, the fron…
I think comparisons like this ignore something fundamental, which is the values that both countries champion.
The USA is a democracy and has by and large championed democracy around the world. China is ruled by a 1974 style dictatorship, a country ruled by a single Party not the rule of law.
Comparisons between the US and the CCP conveniently ignore this, yet it is what really matters.
Law enforcement will always exist in a nation of laws, yet the simple fact that law enforcement exists both in a dictatorship and in a democracy does not lead us to conclude democracy and dictatorship exist on an equal moral footing.
The underlying values matter.
Re: Chinese telecoms must use "AI and other technical means" to identify phone users
#35Not that there's any moral equivalence, but when I'm in Australia visiting in-laws, I have to provide my passport or similar ID to get my PAYG SIM activated. I just have them swipe it at the airport and my SIM is on in 10 minutes. My wife admits it's a lot easier in the States to get a PAYG SIM; AT&T doesn't care who she is as long as there's money in the account. I'm not sure why Australia does that, but it's really…
There absolutely is moral equivalence - they're trying to cut off all means of anonymous communication. It's difficult to get a SIM without providing ID in the EU as well, and you have to provide ID when renting a room. I wish the media were always sensitive to privacy erosion, not just when China does it.
I guess using Chinese surveillance tech is a roundabout way of getting them to pay attention, as happened with the Hikvision cameras.
Re: Chinese telecoms must use "AI and other technical means" to identify phone users
#36I'm confused about the enforcement here. I just bought a temporary sim from https://www.3gsolutions.com.cn (which I've used multiple times before when visiting) and didn't provide any id.
Re: Chinese telecoms must use "AI and other technical means" to identify phone users
#37The irony is that the people complaining about this are the same ones who are gleefully sharing their personal details and narrative on social media, and Facebook in particular. The only difference between mass surveillance in the US and China is that 99% of the US population happily opts in or doesn't care.
Re: Chinese telecoms must use "AI and other technical means" to identify phone users
#38Registering a sim card in Vietnam also requires your photo to be taken. Is this an Asia thing ?
Re: Chinese telecoms must use "AI and other technical means" to identify phone users
#39Are we any different? I want to think so but drivers licenses and passports are scanned photos. The California DMV even sells this information.
Just look up videos on youtube of westerners who live in China so that you can easily understand the giant chasm of difference between the cultures and system. Even if CA does something similar, there are ways to keep your privacy protected, especially if you're willing to go out of your way and get a lawyer. In China you're basically owned by the government and good luck trying to find workarounds without feeling like you're a wanted criminal.
Re: Chinese telecoms must use "AI and other technical means" to identify phone users
#40Canadian here: Ezra Levant is far, far right. He was part of the now defunct Sun news Network. This may be a case of a broken clock being right twice a day. He's basically the Canadian version of Breitbart.
Ah too bad. As a European I have never heard of him, and the original source wasn’t linked. Thanks for the heads up.
Update: changed link