Reflection on privacy and surveillance in a digital era can hardly escape a focus on the laws and policies developed by the People’s Republic of China. In the last few years, China’s society and economy have, in fact, been deeply transformed by the advance of the digital era. But to a large extent this digital transformation has contributed to the construction of a surveillance state.
The National Anti-Fraud Center (NAFC) app is a multi-platform mobile application developed by China’s Ministry of Public Security and launched in March 2021. The app was introduced as part of a broader campaign to protect citizens from fraudulent activities, which have been increasing significantly over the years. The app aims to prevent and report fraud, maintaining telecommunications network security and raising awareness about fraud prevention. It detects suspicious calls, SMS, and apps, and provides a function for users to report potential fraud to the authorities. However, the NAFC app has faced controversies regarding privacy concerns. It requires extensive permissions, including facial recognition for registration, and has been reported to track users who visit overseas financial websites.
Firstly the app requires extensive permissions, including facial recognition for registration and access to users’ phone data. This has raised significant privacy concerns among users. In some cities, like Shenzhen, residents are reportedly forced to install the app on their smartphones. This has led to complaints about the lack of choice and the intrusive nature of the app. But the reason which caused widespread criticism of the NAFC was that the app was reportedly being used to track users who visit overseas financial websites, such as Bloomberg. This has led to instances where users are interrogated by the police. The app also requests more permissions than necessary for its stated purpose, which has further fueled concerns about potential misuse of personal data.
These controversies have sparked a debate about the balance between security and privacy. China maintains the most pervasive and sophisticated regimes of Internet filtering and information control in the world. A number of websites remain blocked such as search engines (e.g. Google), social media (e.g. Facebook and Twitter), news media (e.g. New-York Times and Financial Times), as well as a number of websites. Unpredictability remains the main driver of the ‘Great Firewall’ as it is known in the West or the ‘Golden Shield’ as it is known in China with topics going on and off the ever expanding list of sensitive topics.
In response to the criticism of the National Anti-Fraud Center (NAFC) app, the Chinese government has emphasised the app’s role in protecting citizens from fraud and maintaining telecommunications network security. They argue that the app is necessary to combat the rising incidents of telecom and online fraud, which often involve overseas operations managed by Chinese and Taiwanese nationals.
However China has a well-documented history of extensive surveillance on its citizens. The government employs a vast network of CCTV cameras, internet monitoring, and digital technologies to keep tabs on its population. This surveillance system has grown significantly under the administration of Xi Jinping. The Skynet system, for example, reportedly includes over 700 million surveillance cameras across the country, which is one camera for every two citizens. Additionally, the government can access data collected by major tech companies like Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent. This level of surveillance is often justified by the government as a means to maintain social order and security, but it has raised significant concerns about privacy and civil liberties.
Chinese authorities have stepped up spot checking operations on the streets and on public transport in the years since the “white paper” protest movement of 2022, which the government blamed on infiltration by “foreign forces,” and have been forcing people to download an “anti-fraud” app that monitors their phone usage, according to recent interviews.
A mobile phone repair specialist in the southern province of Guangdong who declined to be named for fear of reprisals said the police-approved “anti-fraud” app can also detect the presence of circumvention tools on any phone where it has been installed. “As long as your phone has the anti-fraud app installed, they will know what you are doing,” she said.
The presence of a large number of software components in the NAFC application, including facial and voice recognition, is an important point of attention. These technologies can be used for the application’s purpose, but may also be used for malicious purposes without the user being notified. Since the application has functionality that cannot be accessed without a China-based phone number, it is difficult to verify how these technologies are used within the application.
Since 2021 the Chinese government has required Tibetans to install the National Anti-Fraud Centre app. Police reportedly have set up roadblocks and force travellers to download and enrol the app right there using facial recognition.Majority of Tibetans are concerned that the app may be used to track their movements and potentially access data on their phones.
As per a The report was created by two public policy organisations– Turquoise Roof and Tibet Watch Beijing has integrated “AI-driven systems fusing facial recognition with internet browsing and app-based monitoring” to DNA and GIS tracking data in Tibet. According to Greg Walton, senior investigator at U.K.-based security consulting firm Secdev Group and one of the report’s authors, “The Chinese government’s apparatus in Tibet remains a black box in nature, but this report provides [the outside world] with a glimpse into how these systems work.” “Our analysis suggests that data controlled by the Anti-Fraud app could connect into wider systems operated by the Criminal Investigation Bureau [and] the mandatory installation of the app at police checkpoints could serve as a platform for harvesting a dataset used for monitoring and controlling the population, particularly in suppressing dissent and cultural expression,” the report wrote.
“It looks like a surveillance app that tracks not only our movement but also has built-in automatic voice recording and photo-sharing functionalities,” an unnamed Tibetan man told Tibet Watch in 2023. Indeed measures in Tibet are “more invasive” than the measures used in other parts of China. The big data systems use machine learning to track Tibetans’ kinship networks or analyse their social networks to surface what the Chinese party-state defines as organised crimes. Some Tibetan activists say the digital surveillance architecture that the Chinese government is trying to “perfect” in the region will create a deep psychological impact on local residents. The pervasive monitoring creates a sense of being constantly watched, leading to stress, anxiety, and a loss of personal freedom, forcing them to practise self-censorship. It’s a complex issue with significant implications for the mental well-being and autonomy of the people living under such surveillance.
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