The Dark Side of the ICT Force? ICT To Monitor and Police the Public

"China Enacting a High-Tech Plan to Track People" By KEITH BRADSHER, The New York Times, August 12, 2007

At least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets in Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people, in southern China. Sophisticated computer software is soon to be installed using the images from the cameras to recognize automatically the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity. Residency cards fitted with powerful computer chips are soon to be issued to most citizens of the city. "Data on the chip will include not just the citizen’s name and address but also work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord’s phone number. Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China’s controversial “one child” policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card. Security experts describe China’s plans as the world’s largest effort to meld cutting-edge computer technology with police work to track the activities of a population and fight crime. But they say the technology can be used to violate civil rights."

Comment: Information and communications technology is powerful. Like most (all?) powerful technologies, ICT can be used for good or bad purposes. The Chinese example offers the possibility of being used by the police to protect citizens, prevent crime and catch criminals. However, it might also be used to extend coercive government control to an unprecedented degree. JAD