PETER APPS: How China has become the world leader in mass surveilance
In Western democracies, the deployment of such techniques has been slowed by concerns over civil liberties. Those qualms are largely absent amongst China’s leadership
As tens of thousands of Chinese drinkers walked into a beer festival in the eastern port city of Qingdao in August, a software program scanned their pictures. Those identified as being on a police list of wanted persons were pinpointed in less than a second. By the end of the three-week event, authorities had made 25 arrests, including one of someone on the run for a decade. According to police, the program had correctly matched faces in 98 percent of cases.The exercise is one of the latest examples of how Beijing is tapping the newest technology to redefine the limits and scale of mass surveillance. As China’s President Xi Jinping and those around him cement their power with purges and a ruthless anti-corruption drive, they are relying on these breakthroughs to stymie dissent. This push for loyalty will form a quiet backdrop to proceedings at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party in Beijing this week. When delegates gather for the Oct. 18 opening of the meeting, they wi...
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