The Chinese Government has announced plans to track 1.7 million cellphone users in Beijing through location technology, in order to help city authorities better manage traffic (see http://www.bjjtgl.gov.cn/publish/portal1/tab165/info23222.htm). However, this raises concerns that the government may abuse this technology for surveillance purposes, infringing a variety of human rights.
China maintains a tight grip on the flow of information within and out of the country. It has already blocked sites like Youtube and Twitter, driven Google China out of the mainland and into Hong Kong, and even required telecommunications operators and internet service providers to cooperate with the State in locating leaks of state secrets:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/world/asia/07beijing.html
With the Chinese government now engaging in such highly comprehensive cellphone tracking, a number of human rights concerns arises, including the possibility of political dissenters being monitored and tracked as the government clamps down on its critics. Apart from its judicial branches of government, Chinese citizens can also make claims, “petitions”, to the highest level of government seated in Beijing. Through its many tactics of getting rid of petitioners, the most heinous is tracking down these individuals, arresting them for social disturbance or throwing them in mental institutions (see http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4c05091b19.html). Cellphone tracking, although politically neutral on its face, can at best chill free speech and peaceful protests (i.e. Jasmine Rallies), at worst, allow government officials and police to have easier access to dissidents.
Of course, it could be argued that, on a daily basis, individual privacy is hardly interfered with if cellphone tracking is used for its asserted purpose – after all, each person would merely be one of 1.7 million other “trackees” in one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Furthermore, it has been well documented that Beijing has one of the world’s biggest problems with traffic (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11062708). Last August, there was a nine-day traffic jam that stretched 100km just outside of Beijing. However, it is questionable what tracking cellphones can really do to aid traffic flow. The main problem is the amount of cars on the road — better solutions should target a reduction of cars, rather than simply band-aid solutions to track individuals.
Further, if tracking were really implemented concerns do arise where “targeted” rather than simply “general” cellphone tracking takes place — a capacity that both the Chinese and all other governments possess, and is highly susceptible to abuse.
For more information:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2011/03/china_said_it_may_begin.html