Research by Turquoise Roof, a campaign group that opposes China’s colonization of Tibet, has examined the surveillance capabilities of China’s National Anti-Fraud Center app following multiple reports of Tibetans being forced to download it. They executed the latest Android version in a sandbox and discovered it can do all of the following without the phone user’s knowledge or consent.
- Read SMS messages
- Read the call log
- Read the history of URLs visited by the phone’s default browser
- Take photographs
- Read low-level log files, as could be used to determine if the phone has prohibited software, such as a VPN app
- Query which other apps are currently running, as also could also be used to identify forbidden apps
- Superimpose images over other applications, as could be used to deceive users into entering passwords and other data
- Access data on external storage devices connected to the phone
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a non-governmental organization that investigates human rights infringements globally, have also highlighted multiple reports of Tibetans being forced to download this app.
Media reporting on several Tibetan areas found that police have forced Tibetans to download a government app to their phones en masse at security checkpoints and during compulsory meetings, ostensibly to educate the public about online fraud. Official reports describe police and party members being mobilized to visit homes and businesses in Tibetan areas to “promote,” “guide,” and “assist” on the installation of the anti-fraud app, which China’s National Anti-Fraud Center created in 2021.
Tibetans are said to be resisting the invasion of their privacy by downloading the app when necessary, such as before they take a long journey, and then uninstalling it immediately afterwards. They are not alone in being pressured to install the app, which is also used across China. Communist Party workers have complained that their performance evaluations now include targets for the number of times they facilitated the installation of this app.
Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch, warns that the app is part of a wider strategy to control Tibetans and prevent them communicating with expatriates who fled the Chinese invasion.
For Tibetans, simply using a cellphone has become dangerous, and everyday activities like posting a humorous video or contacting loved ones abroad can bring arrest, detention, and torture…
Tibetans have not only lost their rights to freely express themselves and to access information, but they are losing even their basic right to communicate with their loved ones. Even as global communications grow, the Chinese government increasingly seeks to close off and control entire populations.
The Turquoise Roof report, “Weaponising Big Data: Decoding China’s digital surveillance in Tibet”, can be downloaded from here. The HRW report, entitled “China: Police Arrest Tibetans for Internet, Phone Use”, is here.
