Chinese police collecting massive amounts of biometric data in provinces with mostly ethnic minorities are using the data not against crime or terrorism but for social control, according to a
report from The Citizen Lab submitted to the United Nations rights rapporteur.
While the two mass biometric data collection programs in Tibet and Qinghai Province are led by Chinese public security organs, an analysis of publicly available sources from the Chinese regime shows that these programs are “unconnected to investigations into criminal or terrorist activity and do not appear to be specifically authorized by Chinese law,” according to the University of Toronto-based research institute.
“Instead, these two programs appear to be part of broader public security surveillance and social control programs.”
The report was sent to the United Nations special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, which
asked for public input on how counter-terrorism laws affect civil rights and freedoms. In a “
Global Study“ based on this feedback, the special rapporteur found that some countries use these laws under the guise of national security to give police and security forces too much power, leading to the suppression of peaceful protesters.
The special rapporteur’s report highlighted how the “weaponization” of new technologies like biometrics—measuring unique human traits such as faces, fingerprints, irises, voices, and DNA to identify or verify people—has exacerbated the harassment of civil society actors.
In a July 31
press release, Emile Dirks, a research associate at The Citizen Lab and author of its report, urged the U.N. special rapporteur to ask Chinese authorities to clarify the purpose and scope of the biometric collection programs and to confirm whether they comply with China’s human rights obligations.
Organ Harvesting
The Chinese regime’s mass biometric collection extends beyond ethnic minorities and has raised concerns about its use in severe human rights abuses, including organ harvesting.
A
November 2023 report from the UK Home Department cited a July 15, 2020, incident where Chinese authorities used facial recognition technology to track down and arbitrarily detain a Falun Gong practitioner. Falun Gong, a spiritual practice rooted in Buddhist traditions, has been severely persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
“Facial recognition technology enables cameras to quickly identify citizens. Falun Gong practitioners known to police have long been considered targets of detailed surveillance. Their biometrics and other data has been collected and stored in ‘key individual’ databases for over a decade. This facilitates cross-referencing and identification,” stated the report “Country Policy and Information Note.”
The report also cited a June 2021
press release from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, noting that detained Falun Gong practitioners, alongside other targeted minorities, have been forcibly subjected to blood tests and organ examinations.
“The results of the examinations are reportedly registered in a database of living organ sources that facilitates organ allocation,” the report said.
A
U.S. report on International Religious Freedom cited an incident originally documented by
Minghui.org, which reports on the Falun Gong community. On Oct. 4, 2022, police in Jinan City, Shandong Province, arrested Falun Gong practitioner Xu Wenlong and his cousin. The police reportedly drew blood samples from both individuals and threatened to kill Xu.
