In China, a High-Tech Plan to Track People

[ohio2007]

Source: NYTimes

SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 9 — At least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets here in southern China and will soon be guided by sophisticated computer software from an American-financed company to recognize automatically the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity. Starting this month in a port neighborhood and then spreading across Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people, residency cards fitted with powerful computer chips programmed by the same company will be issued to most citizens.

Data on the chip will include not just the citizen’s name and address but also work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord’s phone number. Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China’s controversial “one child” policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card.

Security experts describe China’s plans as the world’s largest effort to meld cutting-edge computer technology with police work to track the activities of a population and fight crime. But they say the technology can be used to violate
civil rights.

snip

The role of American companies in helping Chinese security forces has periodically been controversial in the United States. Executives from Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Cisco Systems testified in February 2006 at a Congressional hearing called to review whether they had deliberately designed their systems to help the Chinese state muzzle dissidents on the Internet; they denied having done so.

China Public Security proudly displays in its boardroom a certificate from I.B.M. labeling it as a partner. But Mr. Huang said that China Public Security had developed its own computer programs in China and that its suppliers had sent equipment that was not specially tailored for law enforcement purposes.

snip

Little more than a collection of duck and rice farms until the late 1970s, Shenzhen now has 10.55 million migrants from elsewhere in China, who will receive the new cards, and 1.87 million permanent residents, who will not receive cards because local agencies already have files on them. Shenzhen’s red-light districts have a nationwide reputation for murders and other crimes.







Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/business/worldbusiness/12security.html?ei=5065&en=2d7edb61ed14cb4d&ex=1187496000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

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?

civil rights?

Didn't Bill Gates say the technology was to be used for good,not evil?
Big Red is watching you.
How soon til they spread the technology worldwide ?

[lynnertic]

1. at least they're not implanting chips in people

[Karenina]

2. Yet.

[scarletwoman]

4. "Yet "-- yes, my thought exactly!

:hi:

[ohio2007]

8. The chips are in peoples pet animals

so you can say Snake Bliskin's Escape from New York world is reality waiting to get the green light

[TheFarseer]

3. sounds like the GOP's wet dream

the only thing missing is a camera in your bedroom to make sure you're not having sex before marriage

[piedmont]

6. or masturbating.

wankers, beware!

[TheFarseer]

10. those sperm are just as much a person as you or I n/t

[Deja Q]

5. No need to do that to Americans...

Fewer will have job histories to keep track of. Guess where the jobs are headed! :evilgrin: :P

Oh, Bill can do what he wants. After all, he's a big partner in the Business Software Alliance... which seems odd as the amount of piracy China has been guilty of would give Gates 50 heart attacks in a row, if he's so bothered about America's piracy rate...

[Kagemusha]

7. Citizens in China actually have civil rights?

Who knew?

[ohio2007]

9. Yeah, they have the right to obey

or be denied the right to work and eat

[fed-up]

11. and from the lack of recs on this thread it looks like the US will easily copy China....nt

[ohio2007]

13. Why lack of comments? the truth ? You want the truth ? The truth ? !

"People can't handle the truth"

or everybody is on vacation and not taking time to visit the internet ;)
yeah,
thats the ticket.

[fed-up]

12. k/r this is just the beginning.......nt

[MLFerrell]

14. Coming soon to a corporatist-America near you!

[babylonsister]

15. No truer words...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1571140&mesg_id=1571140

[tom_paine]

16. Exactly. Imperial Amerika is much more like Communist China than the country I grew up in

And oh yes, the DHS is instlling these camera system in every small-city in Amerika, soon to be down to the small towns in perhaps 10 years.

It's coming...can you feel it? Like 1939 all over again...

[ohio2007]

17. Smile and wave boys...smile and wave

nt

[high density]

18. yep

Can't wait. We already have the background checks, credit checks, and piss tests. I'm sure "reproductive history" checks aren't too far away.