Public Intelligence

Surveillance cameras are set up at a lamp post against a China national emblem at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China extends surveillance into supermarkets, cinemas and classrooms (guardian.co.uk):

Beijing police have ordered supermarkets and shopping malls to install high-definition security cameras, as China continues its huge expansion in monitoring technology.

The country has added millions of surveillance cameras over the last five years, part of a broader increase in domestic security spending.

In May, Shanghai announced that a team of 4,000 monitor its surveillance feeds to ensure round-the-clock coverage. The south-western municipality of Chongqing has announced plans to add 200,000 cameras by 2014 because “310,000 digital eyes are not enough”.

Urumqi, which saw vicious ethnic violence in 2009, installed 17,000 high-definition, riot-proof cameras last year to ensure “seamless” surveillance. Fast-developing Inner Mongolia plans to have 400,000 units by 2012. In the city of Changsha, the Furong district alone reportedly has 40,000 – one for every 10 inhabitants.

There are cameras on streets and in stores, in university classrooms and outside the doors of dissidents. In March, Beijing roused disquiet in the arts world when it mooted plans to spend 5.57m yuan on cameras to monitor performances in venues such as cinemas and theatres.

China is hardly unique: Britain has arguably led the world in the use of surveillance cameras. But China has embraced them with particular enthusiasm.

IMS Research, an electronics-focused consultancy, has predicted annual growth of more than 20% in China between last year and 2014, and less then 10% elsewhere.

Bo Zhang, senior research analyst at IMS, believes that more than 10m cameras were installed in China in 2010. The company estimates that spending reached $680m last year, with the total market – including related systems – hitting a value of $1.7bn.

China boosts internet surveillance (guardian.co.uk):

Police have told cafes, hotels and other businesses in central Beijing to install surveillance technology for Wi-Fi users or face fines and possible closure, in a further tightening of internet controls.

China has the world’s largest and most sophisticated web censorship and monitoring system, which it has tightened still further after the Middle Eastern uprisings. Measures included blocking major virtual private networks, which allow people to evade internet controls.

The new software, which costs about 20,000 yuan (£1,900), allows officials to check the identities of users and monitor their activity. Businesses that fail to comply face a fine of the same size and could have their licences revoked.

Strict controls already apply at internet cafes, which poorer people rely on for access.

It is unclear how strictly the measures will be enforced, and it appears that only Dongcheng district has told owners of the regulations. A staff member at its internet security unit said the initiative was city-wide, but Beijing police headquarters had not responded to a faxed query at time of writing.

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