- James Clayton
- BBC North America Technology Correspondent
China’s Henan Province is building a surveillance system using facial scanning technology to monitor journalists and other “people of interest.”
In the document (document copy) seen by the BBC, the system divides reporters into a “traffic light” system, including green, yellow, and red.
The document stated that journalists who belong to the “red” category will be “implemented classified disposal.”
The Henan Provincial Public Security Department did not respond to a request for comment.
These files were discovered by IPVM, a monitoring and analysis company. They also outline plans to monitor other “people of interest”, including foreign students and female immigrants.
“The government does not need more power to track more people…especially those who might try to hold them accountable in a peaceful way,” said Human Rights Watch.
“Thematic Library”
These documents are part of the bidding documents of the Henan Provincial Public Security Department and were released on July 29. The document encourages Chinese companies to bid for the construction of the “325 Platform of the Public Security Department of Henan Province.” NeuSoft Group (NeuSoft) won the bid on September 17.
Neusoft did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
The slides in the document outline how the upgraded surveillance system will work.
The system includes facial recognition technology connected to thousands of cameras in Henan. When it finds a “person of interest”, it will alert the authorities.
“Following people” will be classified into the “thematic database”, which is an existing database of information and images about people in the province.
The system will also be connected to the national database of China.
“Focus on people”
Journalists are a group of people interested in the Henan Provincial Public Security Bureau, including foreign journalists.
“It is initially planned to divide the following reporters into three levels of following personnel,” the document said.
“The first-level personnel are marked in red, and they are the focus of attention.”
“The second-level personnel are marked in yellow, they are general concerned personnel, and the entry standard is those who have a criminal record in our country (connected to the national public security entry and exit management database).”
“The third-level personnel are marked as green, they are relieved personnel, and the entries are non-hazardous general attention reporters.”
As soon as a “following reporter” marked as “red” or “yellow” buys a ticket to go to the province, an alert will be triggered.
How powerful is the face recognition surveillance system in China?
The system will also evaluate foreign students and divide them into three risk levels-“excellent international students”, “general personnel” and “key personnel or unstable personnel”.
“In the daily management, the school provides a list of concerned international students, and the immigration, national security, and national security rely on their respective information databases, and refer to the daily attendance, test results, whether they come from key countries and school regulations and disciplines for safety assessments.” The file said.
The school itself needs to notify the authorities of students with safety issues, and those deemed to need attention will be tracked.
In sensitive periods such as the “National Two Sessions”, the “wartime early warning mechanism” will be activated, and the tracking of “focused on international students” will also be strengthened, including mobile phone positioning for them.
The document outlines the authorities’ hopes that the system will include the following sources of information:
- cell phone
- Social media (such as WeChat and Weibo)
- Vehicle details
- hotel accomodation
- Ticket purchase information
- Real estate information
- Photos (from existing database)
The system should also pay attention to “stayed women”, that is, illegal immigrant women who do not have the right to live in China.
A considerable number of women went to China to find work, and some were trafficked from neighboring countries to China.
The system will be “connected” with the databases of the National Immigration Bureau, the Ministry of Public Security and the Henan Provincial Public Security Department.
Image source,Getty Images
The release of the document coincided with the Chinese government’s criticism of foreign media’s coverage of the Henan floods.
These documents were released before and after the Chinese government criticized foreign media for reporting on the Henan floods.
Conor Healy, the government director of IPVM, said: “(The outside world) still knows little about the technical architecture of China’s large-scale surveillance… But establishing customized surveillance technology to improve the efficiency of the country’s suppression of journalists A new job.”
“These documents reveal what Chinese public security officials want from large-scale surveillance,” he said.
China’s facial recognition system is believed to have been put into use nationwide.
Sophie Richardson, director of Human Rights Watch’s China Department, said: “This goal is chilling. It ensures that everyone knows that they can and will be monitored, and they never know what might trigger hostility.”