China - Surveillance state or way of the future? | DW Documentary

Summary

In China, technological advancements in surveillance and data collection have become a prominent part of everyday life, raising questions about privacy and freedom. This DW Documentary explores the extent of state surveillance, focusing on Shanghai's control centers and the widespread use of facial recognition technology. Interviews with experts and local citizens reveal mixed feelings about the benefits and ethical concerns surrounding these advancements. Additionally, the documentary investigates the global influence of Chinese tech companies like TikTok and Xiaomi, and the implications of such technologies on privacy both domestically and internationally.

Highlights

• Shanghai's surveillance center can track mask compliance and public infractions automatically. 📸
• The integration of technology in family life makes daily routines convenient but data-heavy. 📱
• Chinese social credit systems use behavior tracking to reward or penalize citizens. 🎯
• TikTok's algorithm gathers extensive user data, showcasing global privacy concerns. 🤔
• Facial recognition tech in Xinjiang is linked to human rights abuses and ethnic profiling. ⚠️

Key Takeaways

• Shanghai is a global leader in surveillance technology, using millions of cameras to monitor citizens. 📹
• Facial recognition software in China adapts rapidly, even recognizing faces with masks. 😷
• Apps for health and consumer data collection pave the way for China's evolving social credit system. 📈
• Concerns around privacy and data use extend beyond China, affecting international perceptions and policies. 🌍
• Critics warn about China's potential to misuse surveillance for ethnic profiling and repression. 🚨

Overview

In this DW Documentary, the vast network of surveillance cameras across China is explored, with Shanghai leading the charge. The film provides a detailed look at how these cameras, combined with artificial intelligence, allow for real-time monitoring of citizens—right down to detecting improper mask-wearing or littering. This technology doesn't just stop at border control; it influences daily life, from biometric payment systems to how trash is disposed of.

The documentary also examines how these technologies interface with everyday life in China. Smart homes in cities like Hangzhou feature internet-connected devices that streamline everything from shopping to energy use. Meanwhile, platforms like TikTok offer a window into both entertainment and data privacy debates—demonstrating the global reach and implications of Chinese tech.

Finally, the ethical considerations and global ramifications are considered, particularly concerning human rights. In regions like Xinjiang, surveillance technology is employed as a tool of repression against the Uyghur population, raising serious concerns. As China continues to advance its tech industry, the world watches closely, with questions about how these innovations intersect with issues of freedom and privacy.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction to China's Surveillance System The chapter introduces the extensive surveillance system in China, particularly focusing on a surveillance center in Shanghai. It describes how hundreds of millions of cameras are installed nationwide, equipped with algorithms to automatically recognize specific behaviors, such as not wearing a mask, ensuring that no resident goes unwatched or escapes the cameras' scrutiny.
• 01:00 - 03:00: Technological Advancements in Daily Life This chapter discusses the influence of technological advancements on daily life across different countries. It highlights how developments in China can have an impact on Germany, emphasizing the interconnectedness of modern technology globally. The text also touches on concerns related to data privacy, with users lacking control over where their data is sent, be it to the US, China, or elsewhere. Additionally, it briefly mentions some benefits of modern technology, such as cashless payments.
• 03:00 - 05:30: Data Collection and Surveillance Centers As technology rapidly evolves, the emergence of internet-equipped cars signifies a bold leap into a high-tech future. However, this advancement prompts a question of the potential costs associated with such progress. The family depicted in the chapter is enthusiastic about embracing cutting-edge technologies, reflecting a broader societal trend. Father Chenwei, a key character, advocates for adapting to these technological changes to keep pace with the world.
• 05:30 - 10:00: The Global Reach of Chinese Tech Companies The chapter titled 'The Global Reach of Chinese Tech Companies' highlights the influence and popularity of Chinese tech companies, using the Chinese version of TikTok as an example. It details how this app is a popular entertainment source for families, including 10-year-old Man Faye and her parents. The app enables users to share and watch videos, such as adorable clips of children, fostering conversation and connection among users.
• 10:00 - 15:00: China's Health and Social Credit Systems The chapter discusses China's adoption of wearable technology, particularly smartwatches, by students like Manfei. These devices serve multiple functions such as making phone calls, checking class discussions, and even making purchases, highlighting a shift from smartphones to more integrated, compact technology. Manfei also shares how she uses her smartwatch to stay connected and update her social circle about her daily activities.
• 15:00 - 20:00: Privacy Concerns and Data Protection The chapter discusses privacy concerns and data protection in the context of modern digital practices. It opens with a dialogue between two individuals, where one identifies herself as Miffy. The narrative then highlights a cultural trend among middle to upper-class families where children, like Miffy, are enrolled in private English lessons. These lessons are increasingly held online, a practice that was already in place before the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter further illustrates the pervasive role technology plays in everyday life through the character of Mother Shen Chiong, who manages weekend shopping and pays the electricity bill using her smartphone. This example underscores the growing integration of digital solutions in routine tasks, bringing forward concerns about privacy and data protection.
• 20:00 - 25:00: Facial Recognition and Surveillance Technology The chapter discusses the rapid technological advancement in Hangzhou, which has transformed into a high-tech metropolis with a population of 10 million. It illustrates the integration of advanced technology in daily life, showcasing the uu family's electric vehicle from Chinese manufacturer Neo, which is equipped with internet connectivity.
• 25:00 - 31:00: Xinjiang and Human Rights Concerns The chapter titled 'Xinjiang and Human Rights Concerns' opens with a scene highlighting the pervasive presence of surveillance cameras in the city. A family is depicted driving through the city under the watchful eyes of numerous cameras. Despite the constant surveillance, a member of the family, referred to as 'each way', expresses that instead of feeling uneasy, the cameras impart a feeling of security.
• 31:00 - 33:00: Conclusion - The Future of Surveillance The chapter discusses the concept of data collection and its implications on privacy and surveillance. It raises questions about the use of data, particularly by government authorities, and mentions the strict regulations surrounding data use. The setting shifts to Shanghai, highlighting its extensive data collection practices, where each district has a central hub referred to as 'the brain' for accumulating and processing information. The chapter reflects on the trust in authorities managing this data and the broader effects on society.

China - Surveillance state or way of the future? | DW Documentary Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 here in this shanghai surveillance center no resident goes unwatched hundreds of millions of cameras are installed all over china we have algorithms that automatically recognize certain behaviors if someone isn't wearing a mask for example we immediately detect this wrongdoing no one can escape the camera's gaze even
• 00:30 - 01:00 when taking out the trash technological advancements in china affect germany too chinese corporations have long been amassing troves of user data i don't have control over where my data is sent whether it's to the us china or wherever modern technology has its advantages from cashless payment to
• 01:00 - 01:30 internet-equipped cars we're heading full throttle into a high-tech future but at what cost [Music] the family embraces all the latest tech the world's evolving and father chenwei believes it's best to keep up wow
• 01:30 - 02:00 the chinese version of tiktok is a favorite source of entertainment for 10 year old man faye and her parents we watch videos of friends that was just a friend's young daughter for example they film cute videos of their children and upload them it gives us things to talk about
• 02:00 - 02:30 manfei is content using the tiny screen on her smartwatch many of her classmates have such devices rather than smartphones she can use her watch to make phone calls and even purchases what does she do when my parents aren't around and i can't remember the homework i can double check what was said in our class chat i can also post what i do day to day in the chat and take pictures
• 02:30 - 03:00 charlie onion what is your name my name is miffy like many other children in middle to upper class families manfei takes private english lessons even before the covet 19 pandemic they were conducted online meanwhile mother shen chiong takes care of the weekend shopping and the electricity bill all on her smartphone
• 03:00 - 03:30 the family lives in hangzhou [Music] the city has grown rapidly into a high-tech metropolis it's now home to 10 million people [Music] the uu family's car is also equipped with the latest technology they drive an electric vehicle from chinese manufacturer neo it too has internet hey nominee
• 03:30 - 04:00 [Music] the family passes by countless cameras on their drive through the city does that ever make each way uneasy no on the contrary i feel a sense of security
• 04:00 - 04:30 the problem isn't that data exists the question is what's done with it the government is very strict with our data as far as i know i trust them a couple hours drive away is shanghai home to 24 million residents each city district has a data hub where all the information is collected authorities call it the brain
• 04:30 - 05:00 foreign media are seldom allowed access employees in this district alone have access to 290 000 cameras and in some cases they can control them directly algorithms help staff sort through the material this monitor maps all construction sites and the red dots flag irregularities
• 05:00 - 05:30 in one instance the ai detects a construction worker not wearing a safety helmet co-developed the system it took less than a year to get the first version up and running now she can monitor every resident from this office
• 05:30 - 06:00 we've mapped the residential buildings in the district which ones are occupied where there are vacancies and can be called up in real time even those who do not dispose of their trash properly are recorded residents who aren't following the rules
• 06:00 - 06:30 are captured on camera from three different angles the so-called brain acts swiftly whether it's an illegally parked car or unsolicited advertising offences can be handled by patrol officers who are connected to the control center via a mobile app as soon as the squads and volunteers in
• 06:30 - 07:00 residential districts spot an issue they can report it and upload footage they take a photo report the issue and then our system automatically decides which department to forward the matter to uh [Music] district is just one component to the overarching surveillance plan the
• 07:00 - 07:30 chinese government is pushing across the country the goal is to have complete coverage in all major public places such as train stations street intersections and parks china's state media boasts that police can identify every single person on the street in just one second [Music]
• 07:30 - 08:00 in berlin researcher mariko ulberg is keeping a close eye on china's rapidly growing security apparatus orberg herself cannot enter china anymore because her research is a thorn in the side of authorities there she knows all about surveillance centers like the one in shanghai for years she's collected chinese data that's available online for instance from public tenders
• 08:00 - 08:30 we've downloaded several million data sets some have very detailed dependencies where really different surveillance schemes are explained in great depth for instance what type of camera to install over which building entrance [Music] the data sets also make clear why chinese authorities are monitoring their citizens in the first place
• 08:30 - 09:00 it's beautifully described that essentially people and human interaction are the source of any social conflict and social conflict is ultimately what could cause difficulties for the government if they can't provide social stability that's all to say if you can monitor human activity with cameras with surveillance then you can also promptly detect and defuse any conflict and essentially have peace again in shanghai there's big money in data
• 09:00 - 09:30 collection that's why huge corporations have set up shop in china like the tech company tencent the alibaba group and bite dance which markets itself as cosmopolitan in promo videos [Music] as the parent company of tick tock by dance is the world's most valuable startup tech talk was the most downloaded app of
• 09:30 - 10:00 2020. the app has close to 700 million active users every month and is especially popular among young people across the world that includes germany too of course at the campus of the rua university bochum in north rhine west failure finn is an avid biker and his girlfriend jill films for tick-tock yep got it
• 10:00 - 10:30 the student and her boyfriend love the social networking platform from china is the text okay i think it's fine okay okay next okay you're done one thing they both love about tick-tock anyone can get famous in just seconds [Music] my favorite part is that you don't have
• 10:30 - 11:00 to do anything extraordinary you just upload a video and with luck you'll instantly have a thousand likes 4 000 likes what you know about rolling down in the deep when your brain goes [Music] that's awesome very cool all of finn and jill's friends are now on tick tock as well
• 11:00 - 11:30 the couple spends a lot of time on the app well it's a bit embarrassing i don't want to admit how fast the time flies by i have the feeling you don't just look at one or two videos you endlessly scroll through the secret to keep users scrolling the algorithm it tracks which videos jill and finn like and keeps offering new ones which they then like even more as their tick-tock feeds become
• 11:30 - 12:00 increasingly tailored to their specific tastes the app is gathering troves of data in the background but what exactly is it learning what does tick tock know about the couple the two are curious we asked researchers at roe universities institute for it security to take a closer look at the app and shed some light on what kind of data tick tock's collecting
• 12:00 - 12:30 so tick tock is installed on my phone the two can now see in real time what data is being transmitted so while catchy tunes play in the foreground the network scans through personal data in the background the approximate location the cell phone model and of course every single like
• 12:30 - 13:00 and commented i found it fascinating to see it all in such depth i've never seen it before with tiktok i found it interesting and surprising especially the fact that you can see how long i've watched which video or when i skip over it i was shocked to see it lay down like that but i think with time i'll forget about that too and just use tick-tock like i
• 13:00 - 13:30 normally do with every scrap of data tick tock's algorithm is sharpened so the personalized recommendations get better ticktack has very good mechanisms in the background to suggest the exact content i like thereby maximizing the likelihood that i'll stay on the platform longer that's where they're better than facebook and instagram and that's exactly what makes this company so valuable on the other hand a platform like this can also filter out certain content so
• 13:30 - 14:00 if certain political content or topics aren't desired they're just not shown to other users tiktok is time and again accused of pushing funny videos and suppressing disagreeable content videos that are critical of china don't stand a chance [Music] case in point the tiananmen square massacre clips of the deadly 1989 protests can be found here and there but often with very
• 14:00 - 14:30 few likes it's called shadow banning content is not deleted but it's shown so rarely that it's essentially made invisible [Music] tech talk declined our request for an interview on this topic but the company's berlin office told us their content moderation is not influenced by any government including china's despite assertions otherwise expert
• 14:30 - 15:00 mariko ulbek says chinese companies may be private on paper but the state reserves the right to intervene at any time of course there's ultimately the possibility to have greater control over these products even if the content isn't overtly censored it can be indirectly censored through what's pushed out what becomes popular versus what's made to disappear in beijing artist dang ifang knows what
• 15:00 - 15:30 it's like for something to disappear at the hands of chinese senses because he works on politically sensitive topics he's been questioned several times by police in a performance last year he explored the question is it even possible to walk down a beijing street anymore without being captured on camera
• 15:30 - 16:00 such as the focal length the angle for each camera i identified the brand and model so i had precise information and knew the exact area it covered [Music] he filmed a group of volunteers walking along a stretch in the shadow of
• 16:00 - 16:30 beijing's cameras each step was choreographed the group took over two hours to walk about one kilometer the videos have since been censored by the authorities and can only be viewed outside mainland china the artist is also no longer permitted to distribute the material tomorrow
• 16:30 - 17:00 of course i'm disappointed as an artist you create something you invest work ideas and thoughts you try to express yourself you nurture it like you do a child and then you can't make your own work known or show it to anyone of course it's frustrating his latest project also grapples with privacy concerns and his critique extends beyond china
• 17:00 - 17:30 in his exhibition he publishes a provocative fact sheet listing his own personal information in the wake of the covet 19 pandemic data collection has ramped up even more in china health authorities use apps to try to identify infected individuals potential contacts dung must scan a qr code with an app
• 17:30 - 18:00 before entering the gallery district [Music] his temperature is also taken the app looks at your health status and can track your journey after the scan it shows you if everything is okay
• 18:00 - 18:30 if he had been in the same place as someone infected with the coronavirus he would have been denied entry whenever curved 19 is again detected in the country the app becomes everyone's ticket to public life to shop at a grocery store to eat at a restaurant even to get a taxi back in bochum researchers at rural university are comparing the chinese health app to germany's coronavirus app
• 18:30 - 19:00 the german version adheres to the country's notoriously strict data protection laws the app may only communicate anonymously with other mobile devices in the immediate vicinity that means the data is processed locally on my phone the chinese app works completely differently analyzing the app proves complicated the data is encrypted but the
• 19:00 - 19:30 researchers can see that data is being collected and transmitted at every check-in location this information that i'm at a certain place at a certain time that is then presumably transmitted to a central place and that's where the actual analysis is done checking in itself is of course problematic from a privacy perspective because you then have very detailed tracking china has completely de-emphasized
• 19:30 - 20:00 privacy and freedom of movement during the pandemic in the brain of shanghai's podong district every suspected covert 19 case is [Music] we monitored a network of sensors in front of apartments when the door sensor registers people leaving the apartment in violation of the rules we're alerted
• 20:00 - 20:30 district staff and the health department are then informed and can respond quickly what's technologically possible is carried out with little regard for people's privacy criticism or resistance among the population is virtually non-existent even the usually critical artist dang thinks collecting health data amid the pandemic is useful it's an ethical trade-off
• 20:30 - 21:00 is human life or privacy more important that's the choice that technology presents us in this case i think everyone makes the decision that life is more important [Music] back in hangzhou the u family goes about their daily routine which they believe is easier thanks to technology shopping without cash is the standard ten-year-old manfaye can buy a drink to
• 21:00 - 21:30 go with a scan of her smart watch the family leaves a trail of digital footprints everywhere it goes they're seen by companies as well as government agencies china is among the countries collecting the most amount of personal data the government wants to go a step further by implementing a ranking system of individual behavior
• 21:30 - 22:00 the project is already being piloted in the u family's home city so they can collect points the better you score the more advantages you have in your daily life i think it encourages people to voluntarily follow the rules that's how the social credit system works in hangzhou those who violate laws like not paying
• 22:00 - 22:30 their taxes on time or not paying back loans have points deducted people are also penalized for making false statements in the country's covet 19 app [Music] people are rewarded for volunteering staying fit through exercise or using low emission transportation donating blood also earns points other cities also reward organ donors
• 22:30 - 23:00 or everyday things like returning books to the library on time but what precisely is collected and how scores are calculated is not transparent [Music] professor dai shin has been researching the topic for years the beijing subway system also has a project that incentivizes commuters
• 23:00 - 23:30 people who follow the rules are allowed to skip strict security checks at subway entrances where every bag is normally scanned [Music] the ideas tend to be yes if you have some records built up based on your previous behavior then you know there's a determination that your risk might be kind of really low and then we can subject you to less you know checks than other people
• 23:30 - 24:00 china wants obedient citizens authorities entice with rewards and threaten with punishment professor dye tells us the state hasn't always been able to enforce laws but that's changing rule breakers will be penalized more harshly and comprehensively going forward okay let's say they don't care about paying fines that i impose maybe they care about for example next time they go to the tax authority asking
• 24:00 - 24:30 for a certain type of you know tax relief they might actually be interested in uh if they know you know what they they they make me unhappy they might also have trouble with you then they actually have additional incentives is signing up for the social credit system one third of hangzhou's residents have registered so far ui has to link the data from his personal id
• 24:30 - 25:00 then he'll get his score that's 493 points right after registering perks start after 550 points the launch of a nationwide rating system was originally planned for 2020 but like so many data projects it's being tested locally first just trying something out is also common
• 25:00 - 25:30 in china [Music] experimentation is a key business model in the country tech companies rely on savvy consumers like the her family in shanghai i'm here play a kids movie okay is the name of the voice assistant from electronics manufacturer xiaomi a
• 25:30 - 26:00 chinese alexa the her family loves smart technology their tv lights and air conditioning can all be controlled by a mobile app even the refrigerator is high tech offering reminders about their groceries shelf life a week before this onion goes bad i get a reminder that i better use it up now
• 26:00 - 26:30 and i can always check my smartphone to see what's about to expire in the fridge i don't think i'm bragging when i say that china is ahead of the us and europe in terms of digital life simply because there's a huge range of connected products for every area of life
• 26:30 - 27:00 chinese technology has long been finding its way into the homes of german consumers dusseldorf is home to xiaomi's german headquarters the managing director is excited to show us around the products that her family rave about in china are also set to capture the german market the company is driven by the same goal in both countries growth
• 27:00 - 27:30 it's entirely transparent this tv is one of the company's latest innovations rice cookers electric kettles electric scooters xiaomi wants its products to be integrated into all facets of daily life [Music] for everything you can control all devices on your
• 27:30 - 28:00 smartphone [Music] in germany xiaomi has quickly emerged as the third most populous smartphone maker not that german customers are making it easy for them we bring value to consumers
• 28:00 - 28:30 [Music] in a promotional video the company promised top innovation imported at low prices but a scandal last year undermined this positive messaging an i.t expert from london discovered that cell phones from xiaomi transferred highly personal user data to the company [Music] international media reported users were being spied on researchers in bochum saw the news too
• 28:30 - 29:00 [Music] we saw that users browsing behavior was sent to another server where it was possible to track which smartphone visited which website so you could pinpoint in detail which website i went to and at what time you could also generate specific tracking profiles from that the researchers assess how data is being transmitted by connecting the cell phone
• 29:00 - 29:30 inside this special box xiaomi claimed it immediately stopped collecting data after the allegations the team at rural university confirmed this too after analyzing the latest browser version xiaomi phones from germany no longer transmit sensitive information in the background you can see that in germany or europe in general data protection is considered very important in fact the general data protection
• 29:30 - 30:00 regulation is the strictest in the world in germany the topic plays an especially important role compared to china where consumers are suddenly very transparent [Music] facial recognition is the basis of chinese government surveillance at han wang technology in beijing developing artificial intelligence is painstaking work through countless clicks jiang jo han and his team teach the computer to
• 30:00 - 30:30 correctly analyze crowds deciphering what's ahead versus the back of the head and what's just an object these are images from the web and from movies where there are many people
• 30:30 - 31:00 the pandemic presented the company with its biggest challenge yet the software stopped working when suddenly everyone was wearing a mask to protect themselves against the virus immediately launched a task force to feed the computers new data we then mobilized the whole company everyone took pictures of themselves at home pictures with masks in different
• 31:00 - 31:30 environments we all collected i remember we started this in mid-february and by mid-march we released our facial recognition algorithm with masks we were the first in china [Music] facial recognition in germany is a different story a pilot project ran at this berlin train station for over a year it was the largest trial to date with
• 31:30 - 32:00 three hundred test subjects time and again german authorities flirt with this technology kensa ayid si abu is an expert in robotics and artificial intelligence she previously lived in china and is fascinated by the potential of technology still she has her reservations it means no one is anonymous anymore
• 32:00 - 32:30 if i walk down the street people would know exactly who i am where i live where i've just been who i'm meeting and that's of course an invasion of privacy the pilot project at berlin's sutroids train station was met with skepticism and protests the idea of the state monitoring the population through facial recognition is not popular in germany the pilot project is now over so how should new technologies be
• 32:30 - 33:00 developed when they can't be tested yeah most of my kind people don't like to take risks here which often leads to us not being quite as fast but when the product is out it's much better than all the others and that's always what we talk about and what i would like to see as a tech expert is that we take a bit more risk and trust ourselves a bit more just how quickly china crosses the line between the use and abuse of technology
• 33:00 - 33:30 can be seen in xinjiang in the northwest of the country the chinese government markets the region with its capital urumqi as an exotic tourist destination xinjiang is home to the wigas a mainly muslim turkic ethnic group with their own language and culture the state has imposed an unprecedented regime of surveillance and repression
• 33:30 - 34:00 in the past tensions between wigas and the chinese state escalated to violence now the chinese government exercises complete control [Music] this started in 2016 around 4 cameras were installed everywhere more and more every day [Music]
• 34:00 - 34:30 is from xinjiang but she now lives in the netherlands that's why she can speak freely back in her homeland people who openly criticize the chinese government face imprisonment we visited urumchi to connect the dots of kb newer cdx story she lived in this residential area dotted with surveillance cameras all over urumqi facial recognition
• 34:30 - 35:00 software is embedded into building entrances and the information is sent to the police so the state always knows who's coming and going suddenly no one was allowed to visit us only very close relatives we had to get their visit approved with date time and a reason we were not able to verify many details in her story
• 35:00 - 35:30 we couldn't conduct interviews because we too were under constant surveillance policemen were everywhere on the street equipped with mobile id scanners at times a checkpoint appeared every few hundred meters heavily armed policemen came immediately they were already standing by they put a black bag over people's heads and led
• 35:30 - 36:00 them away i saw that very often to this day i start shaking when i see a black plastic bag in the northern part of the city between prisons we managed to film a complex of data centers where surveillance cameras and other data are analyzed [Music] the software identifies a suspect it
• 36:00 - 36:30 reports it directly to the police officers on the scene via a mobile app among those under surveillance are people who recently moved who traveled abroad who appear in a government database of potential suspects as well as their contacts who use an unusually large amount of electricity
• 36:30 - 37:00 or whose cell phone wasn't logged into a network for a while our investigation quickly faced resistance [Music] don't ask who we are what are you doing here what did you film [Music] is a teacher in xinjiang she taught chinese at an
• 37:00 - 37:30 elementary school then she was transferred to this complex on the outskirts of the city ostensibly to teach chinese to wiggers the people's hands and feet were tied they moved as if in slow motion then i understood that i had not been taken to a school for adult education but to a prison camp
• 37:30 - 38:00 the area was gradually transformed into a high security wing with watchtowers and barbed wire enclosures [Music] those features have since disappeared again signs now say the area is an industrial zone but it's still closely guarded by the police you can't go in there
• 38:00 - 38:30 we're just walking around outside no you can't do that and there's nothing to see there either china's government denies that such camps exist and refers to them as vocational training centers but international observers disagree they say about a million people have disappeared at least temporarily into such internment camps kb new acidic reported torture and sexual violence the women were also forced to
• 38:30 - 39:00 they couldn't stop bleeding there was an 18 year old who lost so much blood she died because she didn't get care in time i saw them carrying her out the birth rate among wigas has dropped
• 39:00 - 39:30 dramatically since beijing's total repression began several nations label their actions as a genocide which the government rejects questions about what's happening in xinjiang ricochet back to chinese technology companies don may and his colleagues in pennsylvania in the united states analyze surveillance equipment
• 39:30 - 40:00 while testing facial recognition programs from the chinese company dawa they discovered something they hadn't seen before a category for race we're getting his age the software labelled people as quote black white and yellow what his gender is and that's not all dawah developed a particular solution designed for police to provide real-time uyghur alarms and alerts
• 40:00 - 40:30 so there's clearly a financial incentive by dawa to create this because the demand is coming from the government according to the team's research dawa's system can send an alert to chinese police if a person appears to be from the muslim uighur minority group dawa is the second largest supplier of surveillance technology and sells its products worldwide including to germany
• 40:30 - 41:00 but dawa is not the only chinese company specializing in this tech this is a patent application for facial recognition technology filed jointly by the global telecom company huawei and the chinese academy of sciences this technology also distinguishes
• 41:00 - 41:30 ethnic groups han chinese and wiggers when you're using technology to specifically target ethnic minorities that are being persecuted and it's labeled by the u.s government as a genocide and your company is developing solutions for that it is an ethical concern the patent application has meanwhile been amended the word wigger has
• 41:30 - 42:00 disappeared the demand for artificial intelligence has skyrocketed as a result of china's investment in surveillance development is happening at breakneck speed china aims to be the leader of this tech in the next decade the brave new world many here celebrate modern technology and are proud of the advancements the future of high tech is taking shape
• 42:00 - 42:30 fast should china have total control of the reins or should the rest of the world get a say too [Music] [Music] you