Ever Wish You Had A Big Brother? In China… You Will
April 6th, 2009
Submitted by: Eric White
Dan’s post over at China Law Blog You Saw Me Do What? Privacy In China. is a very enlightening post about the lack of privacy and information security upon entering China. Dan and the articles he references especially the Forbes article Who Will Be Watching You In Beijing? make it clear that every space in China is public. From bugging hotel rooms to copying laptop data to hacking computer networks and login information, Chinese officials have access to much more of your “private” information than you may know. One suggestion in particular that was surprising to me is that it is prudent to have your laptop checked by a professional for bugs and to change your login information when you get back home.
Though, as business students, I don’t think we will be targeted like business leaders, executives, or scientists entering the country, reading these articles and realizing the level of privacy you and your information has in China is very important. Not only that, it is important as future business men and women to learn the precautions one should take when handling sensitive information when entering the country. When you are doing business in China in the future, remember to take the necessary steps to safeguard your company’s information.
Entry Filed under: Pre-Departure, Beijing, China
4 Comments Add your own
1. Chris Carr | April 7th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
If you elect to do The Hutong experience when we are in Beijing (voluntary; extra charge), this post will come to life even more for you. Surveillance cameras abound in that nondescript neighborhood and its alleys. But the surprise to many is that it’s not from the CCP. It’s more of a neighborhood watch type of thing.
As an aside, I read somewhere a while back that the most surveillanced city in the world is ….. London.
2. Nick Chamness | April 8th, 2009 at 7:44 am
Wow London? I wonder why? I guess China does not have those warning signs like we do in the U.S. that state, “you are being watched by a surveillance camera on this premises”. I am pretty sure that is a state if not federal law in the U.S.
The amount of people dedicated to keeping everything public and under surveillance must be incredible. If you have never known privacy, you must just be used to it. Not that I am saying it is right for the government to be spying on its people, but many have grown up in such an environment. The neighborhood watch that Dr. Carr is talking about seems to back up this point. They are voluntarily installing cameras to watch each other. Is this just because they are used to being watched and it just makes them feel safe. Are they really that untrusting of the rest of the citizens in their neighborhood?
3. Chris Carr | April 8th, 2009 at 8:02 am
My memory is that the news piece I saw reporting on London was a 60 Minutes piece. Don’t remember what their criteria were for measuring the place at “most surveillanced”.
Re Nick’s question, lots of strangers are always walking through the hutongs in a hugely populated city like Beijing. My theory is that the locals are trying to keep tabs on who comes and goes, and who might be causing the local neighborhood residents trouble. Of course, they work with their local police to put in all of the cameras in, but it would be a mistake to assume it’s coming down from the inner circle of the CCP.
4. Xiaofei Song | June 12th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Privacy issues are not just existed in China. People walking in the Hutong in China bothering neiborhood get cought by the camera; people bothering the neiborhood here get cought by cops driving on the street. Goverments, no matter what countries, want to monitors what people do, especially on those foreigners coming from other contries.
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