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China Enlists Cisco To Spy On The Public

500,000 cameras have been purchased by the Chinese government for installation in the Chongqing city over the coming three years, to keep an eye out for crime, but more importantly political activists. Or so human rights warriors fret.

Since the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989, the US government has been strict about US companies selling their products to China and profiting from the country’s tight laws regarding dissenters and censorship-contraveners. But Cisco’s understood to be on the right side of this law – though it’s all very grey from where we’re standing.

Nonetheless, the network of cameras will span an area that’s 25 per cent larger than New York City, totalling around 1036sqkm. [WSJ]

Image: Cory Doctorow

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(3 Comments)
  • [–]

    cjteh

    Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 5:06 PM

    Hate to say it; but NATO should consider this method (or some variant of it) to bringing peace & security to the streets of Kabul – instead of the current strategy in place has cost too much in the way of human lives – and not to mention money – so far to date.

  • [–]

    ChemZ

    Friday, July 8, 2011 at 6:02 PM

    Do these political activists allows do their work on the streets?

  • [–]

    bobbo jones

    Friday, July 22, 2011 at 9:38 PM

    apparently spying is all the rage these days, especially among couples…

    i found a cool website that sells spy cameras disguised as household objects for pretty cheap, check out YKYWO

    http://www.youknowyouwantone.com/products-page?category=15

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