Category: surveillance

Hungarians Protest Against Alleged Illegal Surveillance With Pegasus Spyware

BUDAPEST—About 1,000 Hungarians protested on Monday over allegations that the government used Israeli-made Pegasus spyware for illegal surveillance of public figures in Hungary, drawing comparisons with the country’s communist past. Protesters gathered at the House of Terror Museum in the capital, Budapest, which commemorates victims of Nazism and Communism, and marched to the headquarters of…


China’s Big Data Failing to Help Flood Victims

Residents of flood-ravaged Henan Province in China have had their digital-orientated lifestyles disrupted by widespread power outages. Due to a prevalence of online payment apps, outages in the city of Zhengzhou have interfered with many citizens’ daily activities, such as ordering food and access to other necessities. Many aspects of daily life for Chinese people…


Highly Digitized Lifestyles Adds to Flood Woes in China

Residents of flood-ravaged Henan Province in China have had their digital-orientated lifestyles disrupted by widespread power outages. Due to a prevalence of online payment apps, outages in the city of Zhengzhou have interfered with many citizens’ daily activities, such as ordering food and access to other necessities. Many aspects of daily life for Chinese people…


Microsoft Provides Australian State Police with Facial Recognition Services For Surveillance

Microsoft has announced it will provide the Australian New South Wales (NSW) Police force with its facial recognition technology to speed up the state’s surveillance footage analysis. The state police’s older systems involved CCTV footage—and other forms of evidence required in investigations—stored on servers locally, which required time-consuming manual review from police. The new system…


Biden Is Right to Curb US Investment in China’s High-Tech Spying and Repression

Commentary American investors will have to tread carefully in considering Chinese companies for their portfolios. On June 3, President Biden signed an Executive Order expanding Trump era restrictions on U.S. capital from resourcing Chinese companies, including subsidiaries, that form part of China’s military-industrial complex. This is as much a religious freedom and human rights sanction…


Consumers Should Be Warned About China’s Rebranded Hikvision Cameras

Commentary A soldier, kneeling on a mountainside, tests a Hikvision drone-jamming rifle in March. Hikvision’s website carried a report, based on a joint study with weapons experts and commanders of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), detailing how its technology could add functionality to China’s tanks, missiles, and artillery. According to surveillance technology experts IP Video…


Chinese Smart TV Cancels Partnership With Big Data Firm After Claims It Was Monitoring Households

Recently, a mainland Chinese netizen named “v64500” wrote on the online forum “V2EX” that his internet-connected television was scanning electronic devices in his house and uploading the data to a company called “Gozen Data.”  The netizen revealed that his television is a mainland Chinese brand called “Skyworth.” The netizen thought the television was a bit slow…


Smart TVs Are Used by the Chinese Regime’s Big Data Company to Monitor Chinese Households

Recently, a mainland Chinese netizen named “v64500” wrote on the online forum “V2EX” that his internet-connected television was scanning electronic devices in his house and uploading the data to a company called “Gozen Data.”  The netizen revealed that his television is a mainland Chinese brand called “Skyworth.” The netizen thought the television was a bit slow…


China in Focus (April 22): Overseas Chinese Eatery Surveilling Customers

Chinese surveillance appears in the West. A popular overseas Chinese restaurant is using security cameras to watch customers as they eat. The recorded footage then gets sent to Chinese authorities. A Chinese state-run media is expanding its reach across the globe. But one group is putting a stop to its ambitions. A sweeping bill that’s…


5,000 Foreigners Flagged by China in Advanced Surveillance Sweep: Another Data Leak

Over 5,000 foreigners were tracked during visits to mainland China between 2017 to 2018, according to the latest data leak from a Chinese institution. Some individuals on the list say they were only in China for a day or were transiting through Shanghai. One cybersecurity expert says the latest data leak is unique in its…