The New York Times has written about the increasing invasion of personal information and biometric data in China where cities store this material in databases along with assigned identification numbers for each citizen. In an area close to Mongolia “The system crunches all of this into a composite score that ranks you as “safe,” “normal” or “unsafe.” Based on those categories, you may or may not be allowed to visit a museum, pass through certain neighborhoods, go to the mall, check into a hotel, rent an apartment, apply for a job or buy a train ticket. Or you may be detained to undergo re-education, like many thousands of other people.”
The New York Times article is specifically writing about the targeting of the indigenous Uighurs in the western region of Xinjiang, and compares this new “digitized surveillance” as a modern take on conventional controls reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and ’70s.”
The Daily Durning~Tom Durning sends the video below which illustrates the new facial recognition software that can now pinpoint citizens on the street in the City of Guiyang. Using sophisticated software every face is matched with an identity card and the movements of citizens can be followed by the week. As the reporter notes “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.”
