2 May of 2019
Beijing is the target of international criticism for its policy
In the northwestern region of Xinjiang (afp_tickers)
Chinese authorities use a mass spy telephone application to draw profiles, investigate and stop Muslims in the Xinjiang region, considering as suspicious perfectly legal acts, Human Rights Watch denounced Thursday.
Beijing is the target of international criticism for its policy in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where he keeps up to one million uigures and other Muslim minorities in internment fields, According to a group of experts cited by the UN.
Human Rights Watch previously denounced that Xinjiang authorities used a massive surveillance system called Integrated Joint Operations Platform (Integrated Joint Operations Platform, Ijop) To collect multiple sources information, as facial recognition cameras, Wi -Fi trackers, Police control points, Banking records and home visits.
But in a new report, titulado "Los algoritmos de la represión de China", He worked with a Berlin -based security company to analyze an application connected to the IJOP, showing the specific acts to which the system points.
Xinjiang authorities observe closely 36 people's behaviors categories, including if they socialize with neighbors, If they often avoid using the main entrance door, If they use a smartphone, si donan a las mezquitas "con entusiasmo" o usan una cantidad "anormal" of electricity, discovered the organization.
The application instructs officials to investigate someone's relatives with a new telephone number or those of those who left the country and had not returned in 30 days.
"Nuestras investigaciones muestran que, for the first time, la policía de Xinjiang usa información recopilada ilegalmente sobre conductas completamente legales de personas y las usa en su contra", Diko Maya Money, main analyst of China in Human Rights Watch.
"El gobierno chino vigila cada aspecto de las vidas de la gente en Xinjiang, seleccionando aquellos que le inspiran desconfianza y sometiéndolos a escrutinio adicional".
– "Líneas rojas móviles" –
The London -based organization obtained a copy of the application and asked the Cure53 cybersecurity firm to disarm it, will observe its design and data, and examine its source code (the set of text lines with the steps that the computer must follow to run a program).
Next to the collection of personal information, The application asks officials to submit reports on persons, vehicles and facts that consider suspects, y envía "misiones de investigación" For the police to track.
Officials are also asked to verify if the suspects use any of the 51 Internet tools that are considered suspicious, including popular foreign messaging platforms outside China as WhatsApp, LINE y Telegram.
"Psicológicamente, The more people are sure that their actions are observed and that, whenever, They can be judged for moving outside a safe gray area, es más probable que hagan todo lo posible para evitar cruzar una línea roja móvil", Samantha Hoffman said to AFP, Analyst of the International Cyber Policy Center of the Australian Institute of Strategic Policy.
"No hay estado de derecho en China, The party decides in the end what is legal and illegal conduct, y no tiene que ser por escrito", he added.
The IJOP application was created by Hebei Far East Communication System Engineering Company (HBFEC), At a time when it was completely owned by China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), A state company, dijo Human Rights Watch.
You could not contact CETC and HBFEC did not respond to the request for a comment.
Last year Washington imposed controls on exports from key Chinese companies such as HBFEC and other institutions under CETC, Getting its risks to national security and interests in international politics.
