The Chinese Communist Party’s All-Knowing Eye
AI is adding rocket fuel to China’s robust surveillance state.
Over the past two decades, China has emerged as the vanguard of a super-surveillance state. Today, mainland China boasts an astonishing ratio of one CCTV video camera for every two Chinese citizens.
What Naomi Klein astutely referred to as China’s “All Seeing Eye” in 2008 has since evolved into the most advanced and comprehensive tracking and monitoring system worldwide. Today, the moniker “All-Knowing Eye” seems more fitting for China’s formidable surveillance apparatus.
In 2006, the Chinese government mandated the installation of CCTV surveillance and direct feeds to local authorities in all internet cafes, restaurants, and entertainment venues. By 2008, Shenzhen alone, home to Huawei headquarters, boasted approximately 200,000 surveillance cameras cunningly disguised as lampposts and other innocuous objects.
This wave of surveillance extended far beyond Shenzhen, as closed-circuit networks, province by province, city by city, were woven together into a unified nationwide system.
Dubbed “Golden Shield” by Chinese authorities, this comprehensive program aimed to watch Chinese citizens ceaselessly through networked CCTV cameras and remote monitoring of computers.
It entailed monitoring phone conversations using digital voice-recognition technologies and aggressively restricting internet access via the infamous “Great Firewall.” Furthermore, individuals’ movements would be tracked through national ID cards embedded with scannable computer chips, instantly linking photos to police databases and personal data.
Naomi Klein aptly summarized the impact of Golden Shield in 2008, stating, “When Golden Shield is finished, there will be a photo in those databases for every person in China: 1.3 billion faces.” However, China’s ambitions did not stop at amassing a database of faces and information.
In 2015, Beijing reached a significant milestone, achieving 100% CCTV coverage of the city. Today, every corner of China’s capital is under constant surveillance, 24/7. Estimates from 2017 suggest that China already had approximately 176 million surveillance cameras in operation, a number that was projected to surge to 626 million by 2020. Beijing’s ultimate objective is to locate anyone, anywhere within the country, within a remarkable three-minute timeframe. Even in 2017, the Chinese government was already incredibly close to achieving that goal.
In a demonstration for the BBC in 2017 — the last such demonstration — a reporter’s face was swiftly scanned and flagged by the system, leading Chinese police to apprehend the reporter within a mere seven minutes.
In China today, someone is always watching, and that “someone” may well be an advanced AI learning algorithm.
While China’s surveillance system ostensibly aims to combat crime, with 90% of crimes in China currently being solved using this high-tech apparatus, its scope extends far beyond law enforcement. The system has now evolved to monitor and address minor infractions of civic behavior, such as littering, spitting on the street, and jaywalking.
These infractions are met with heavy fines, public naming and shaming, including disclosure to employers and potential employers, and even potential jail time. Leveraging this vast trove of tracked data, China’s social credit scoring system rates Chinese citizens based on their “trustworthiness” and reputation. Positive civic behavior improves one’s score, while uncivic behavior incurs penalties.
Such a system, combined with the massive surveillance network, renders political dissidents, journalists, and government critics incredibly vulnerable to threats and punishment. Merely associating with someone who posts critical comments against the Chinese government can lower one’s social credit score. Even the improper sorting of recycling is closely monitored, with smart trash cans analyzing trash contents and integrated CCTV surveillance.
The extent of China’s surveillance reach is further exemplified by the meticulous analysis of garbage, which reveals a wealth of information about households and neighborhoods. Garbage can expose details such as dietary habits, food waste, purchasing patterns, disposal practices, and even the medications consumed, including over-the-counter drugs that may hint at concealed ailments or contagious diseases.
While this pervasive and intrusive system, bolstered by the integration of inanimate smart objects and artificial intelligence within the Internet of Things, represents only the tip of the iceberg, the Chinese government continues to justify increased control under the guise of public health and social stability. Notably, over 1.3 million Chinese Uighur Muslims currently find themselves confined in reeducation camps, subject to the watchful gaze of countless cameras.
The vast network of surveillance cameras, capturing every move, is just one component of a larger vision of integration. Chinese authorities ultimately seek to merge cameras with mobile phones, GPS tracking, advanced facial recognition technology, and the internet to monitor the activities of every individual in China at all times.
Unfortunately, the day of ultimate reckoning for privacy seems to have already arrived in China, and there are concerns that similar systems may soon proliferate in cities worldwide.
Including, possibly, a city near you.
(contributing writer, Brooke Bell)