Location: Changge City, Henan Province, China
Chinese police have developed a new software to monitor mobile phones. Recently, the police went door-to-door to check villagers’ mobile phones, collect their personal information, take their photo, and verify their ID card. - Woman: Hello everyone, I am Dong Mei, a peasant. The junior police captain just came to my house. He asked me to go to the (local Communist Party) brigade with my ID card and mobile phone. Let’s go over to see what is happening. I am setting off on my scooter.
Policeman: There are one to two thousand people here. I'll ask all of them to come here.
Woman: What are you doing with the phones? What’s it for?
Policeman: For collecting information.
Woman: Collecting information?
Police: Checking cell phones to see if the owner is a scammer or a victim of swindling or identity theft.
Woman: The whole of Changge city will be checked?
Policeman: Yes.Woman: Village by village?
Policeman: Yes.
Woman: From today on?
Policeman: I have been doing this for a while. And I don’t see an end to this task yet.
Woman: Oh, it never stops.
Policeman: That’s the task.
Woman: I was wondering what this is for. I thought it’s like a (sales) promotion. So I wanted to check it out first.
Woman 2: Why worry when our brigade is promoting it? Everything the brigade does is routine practice.
Woman: It’s all normal procedure, right?
Policeman: You can save it (software), but don’t share it with others. Don’t share it with others after I make changes, okay? Don’t share it.
Woman: Why is that? That looks like WeChat, or is it something else?
Policeman: Not WeChat. It’s a new software developed by the police to check mobile phones.
Woman: So does everyone have to install it [in their phone]?
Policeman: Yes, everyone has to.
Woman: To prevent criminals [from stealing personal information]?
Policeman: Yes.
Woman: Take a picture of my ID card first.
Woman: I asked the staff just now. When you get there, they will take the ID card, take your photo, and then take your cell phone to test and collect information. Then they check the mobile phone to see if there is any evidence of theft. This is (the case) in our Changge city. The police department has been doing this all along. - Mr. Wei, a resident in nearby Xuchang city, told The Epoch Times sister media NTD that the police is using surveillance software to tap phones to monitor the user’s activities and conversations. Xu said the police has recently become more aggressive with installing surveillance in order to control social media postings about the COVID-19 pandemic.
