Asian News International reports that "China is embarking on a massive security plan, melding cutting-edge computer technology with police work, to keep a track on the activities of its population." Chinese authorities intend to install some 20,000 - twenty thousand - surveillance cameras that will be "guided by sophisticated computer software from an American-financed company" along streets in the southern part of their vast country. The cameras will be able to "automatically recognize the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity."
item | SF Gate
China's Shenzhen Introduces Residency Cards With Computer Chips
The computer chip-imbedded identity cards will store personal information such as social welfare status, one-child policy conditions, education history and house rental management, according to the company. They may also allow the government to access medical history, personal credit history and driving records, the company said in a statement last month.
About $390 million will be invested for the project in Shenzhen. The government plans to first use the technology in Shanghai and Shenzhen, then adopt the identity cards in 660 cities if the pilot program is successful.
China has more than 150 million internal immigrants, and in many cities rural immigrants outnumber resident populations, according to the statement.
story By Zhao Yidi | Bloomberg
both stories by way of Daily Weird
~It can't happen here.
Posted by Stubbornson at August 22, 2007 02:37 PM