Cypherpunk Underground Chapter 5 - Surveillance Superpower: Observations of the Chinese Communist Party

In prior chapters of Cypherpunk Underground we have stated that the purpose of CPU is "to prepare you for the dystopian surveillance state of the future." Unfortunately for many across the world the idea of a dystopian surveillance state isn't a far off vision. Modern day China offers us our best glimpse into the use of surveillance technology to subdue a society.

In this chapter we look at the "Front Lines" for the battle for personal privacy and dignity. We will look at the 2019-2020 Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Law protests and China's totalitarian control of Uighur Muslim minorities in Xinjang Province.

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2019-2020 Hong Kong Protests

Starting in May 2019 and still ongoing over 265,000 citizens of Hong Kong who opposed the 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill took to the streets in protest. During this protracted struggle the world witnessed both the harsh response of Pro-China government forces and the novel ways the protesters made their voices heard.

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At the time of the protests Hong Kong had over 50 "Smart Light posts" installed around the city. These light posts are produced by Tick Tack Technologies and were allegedly part of a smart city initiative. One feature of these light posts was that they functioned as security cameras. It appears the sensors and cameras installed in these light poles offer 360 degree monitoring from an elevated position. It is for this reason that many protesters carried umbrellas to block the camera's line of sight. To defeat the cameras protesters dismantled them with power tools, sprayed lenses, and used high power lasers to degrade image quality.

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Facial Recognition Software

China leads the world in the use of surveillance cameras and facial recognition technologies. It is believed that there over 170 million CCTVs in China, which equates to one camera per 12 citizens. Its hard to determine what percentage of the millions of cameras in China use facial recognition. However, according to press releases by Chinese State media in 2018 they claim that facial recognition is in use in 16 cities and its capable of identifying individuals on camera within 1 second.

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China's Western Province of Xinjang is arguably the most surveilled area on Earth. CCP officials have constant surveillance on the Uighur Muslims who live there.

A surveillance feed of the Third Group South Mosque in Gulbage Village shows comprehensive coverage of the mosque premises and monitoring of worshippers during a prayer ceremony.

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Humans Right Watch monitors the situation in Xinjang very closely. In a 68-page report published in 2019 they outline the application that authorities in Xinjang use to monitor nearly EVERY detail of those under surveillance. Using a program called the Integrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP) Chinese Authorities monitor and flag citizens based on many arbitrary factors.

Click the image to make it larger.

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The two videos below offer excellent reporting on the realities in Xinjang. In these videos they go in depth about the use of IJOP and all the data points and technologies that feed its algorithms.

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Conclusion

Hopefully this Chapter illustrates that the surveillance state is not science fiction. This is something that is happening RIGHT NOW. With this awareness we can be vigilante for the proliferation of these technologies to our communities.

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