CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – No country has mastered the surveillance state like China.
This is something I was wrong about. Years ago I’d thought that China would have more and more trouble controlling their 4-billion residents as the internet, cellphones, and social media became more widespread. No… instead China uses those technologies which people are naturally attracted to to monitor and control.
No country has more surveillance cameras than China. Most people can be followed, electronically, from the moment they leave their homes. When you take out your garbage in China, a small camera on the lid of your dumpster tells authorities if you sort your trash properly.
So today, three facts about how China has eyes on everyone.
Fact 1 – In the name of controlling it’s population, China doesn’t play fair. Last month there were rumors of a run on a Chinese bank. Large numbers of people were going to withdraw their money. To keep it from happening, Chinese health officials changed all of the bank customers’ COVID status to positive. When they scanned their phones to enter the bank, they were told they were sick and had to go home immediately. They were fine.
Fact 2 – 80-million Americans use Tic Toc, and China controls all of that meta data. And China uses that to keep track of their own citizens, especially college students, when they’re overseas. College students are told when they come to the U.S. that they need to continue using iPhones approved by their government. If their online activities are suspicious, their student visas can be canceled.
Fact 3 – All of this surveillance data is turned into a social score. What one thing can raise someone’s social score the most in China? By reporting on friends and neighbors. So if technology doesn’t work, there’s a human surveillance incentive.
And if you think this could never happen in the U.S, consider that your phone tracks your whereabouts right now – even when it’s off. The only way to stop it tracking you is to physically remove the battery.
Chris Conley.
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