China implements Big Brother IT system full on

WHILE BRITS moan that their CCTV systems are getting a bit intrusive, the Chinese are experimenting with taking the idea to truly Big Brother proportions.

More than 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets in southern China guided by software which can automatically recognise the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity.

According to News.com the beta version of Big Brother is being trailed in a port area and then spreading across tech city Shenzhen, a metropolis of 12.4 million souls.

Residents are issued with cards fitted with computer ID tags. The tag tells coppers the citizen's name and address but also work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord's phone number.

The data might include credit histories, subway travel payments and small things bought by the card. So when a camera spots a person in the street, the police can look at all their ID information and know their favorite kind of soap.

The move enables undemocratic thugs coppers to fight crime and control an increasingly mobile population, it's claimed but it is also handy at seeing who is attending street protests and if they owe a few payments on their credit cards.

If people do not have the right card it is possible for the government to say that they cannot live in a particular area and enforce that decision by screening the CCTV camera across a crowd.

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