Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Cracking the tech

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Pei Li AND Cate Cadell -


It can crack your smartphone password in seconds, rip personal data from call and messaging apps, and peruse your contact book.


The Chinese-made XDH-CF-5600 scanner — or “mobile phone sleuth”, as sales staff described it when touting its claimed features — was one of hundreds of surveillance gadgets on display at a recent police equipment fair in Beijing.


The China International Exhibition on Police Equipment is something of a one-stop shop for China’s police forces looking to arm up with the latest in “black tech” — a term widely used to refer to cutting-edge surveillance gadgets.


The fair underscores the extent to which China’s security forces are using technology to monitor and punish behaviour that runs counter to the ruling Communist Party.


That sort of monitoring — both offline and online — is stoking concerns from human rights groups about the development of a nationwide surveillance system to quell dissent.


The Ministry of Public Security, which hosted the Beijing fair, did not respond to a request for comment.


At the fair, Reuters also saw stalls offering cute-looking robots, equipped with artificial intelligence systems to detect criminals, as well as an array of drones, smart glasses, DNA database software and facial-recognition cameras.


At the fair, which is held annually, most buyers appeared to be local Chinese police, though some global firms attended, selling mainly vehicles and aircraft. Ford Motor Co, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz and Airbus SE had cars and model helicopters on display. The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.


It is not unusual for western companies to sell vehicles to overseas police forces. It was not possible to verify all the claims made about the products at the fair, including the XDH-CF-5600 scanner, which is made by Xiamen Meiya Pico Information Co Ltd, a Chinese provider of security products and services. Scanners like the XDH-CF-5600 exist in other markets around the world, including the United States, but their use is contentious, especially regarding the forcible extraction of data from mobile phone devices.


Chinese firms are rushing to meet the growing demand from the country’s security services, fuelling a surveillance tech arms race as companies look to outdo each others’ tracking and monitoring capabilities. Western firms have played little overt role so far in


China’s surveillance boom. — Reuters


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