(TibetanReview.net, Feb21’24) – The Chinese government in Tibet Autonomous Region is linking the large number of various biometric surveillance systems and databases it has deployed there as the next logical step to consolidate control of the region, reported the biometricupdate.com Feb 20, citing a report by two Tibet-focused research groups.
The information collected thus far is being tied into numerous biometric and other databases controlled by the autocratic government in Beijing, the report said.
In 2021, the Chinese government imposed a requirement on Tibetans to install the National Anti-Fraud Centre app, which government officials claim has attack-prevention and -reporting functions, the report researched by two Tibet-focused public policy organizations– Turquoise Roof and Tibet Watch – has said.
The Chinese government has made downloading the software a legal requirement, set up roadblocks and forced travellers to download and enrol the app right there using facial recognition.
The research report is based not only on interviews with Tibetan sources and nationals arriving in India as refugees but also access to “big data generated from official government sources, mobile digital forensics in the context of contemporary Tibet, and in-depth analysis of surveillance System Description Documents.”
The authors have spoken of having conducted a “dynamic analysis” of the anti-fraud app on Windows and Android devices and found that data collected by the software “could extend beyond internet fraud detection.” The app is capable of linking to “broader control mechanisms.”
More broadly in Tibet, Beijing has integrated “AI-driven systems fusing facial recognition with internet browsing and app-based monitoring” to DNA and GIS tracking data, the research report was cited as saying.
Taking the example of the “Tibet Underworld Criminal Integrated Intelligence Application Platform”, a sophisticated big data policing platform, the researchers have analyzed procurement notices to find that it “amalgamates data from various existing Public Security Bureau systems in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) into a central Oracle database.”
The authors have said there are reports that people accessing offshore financial companies with their phones are picked up for an investigation.