Surveillance

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chinese communist party surveillance

The Chinese Communist Party is watching you

Research conducted by Which, the consumer watchdog magazine, has confirmed something the smartphone industry has known for years: Chinese electronic products are routinely used to spy on citizens in countries like the US and the UK.  The latest suspects, domestic air fryers, join a long list of products the Chinese are accused of having used to spy on the West, which already ranges from smart watches to automobiles. Which analyzed three air fryers sold in the UK and found that Aigostar, Xiaomi Mi Smart, and Cosori CAF-LI401S knew their customers' precise locations and demanded permission to listen in on users' conversations. The Aigostar air fryer even wanted to know the user's gender and date of birth when setting up an account. Disturbingly, both the Aigostar and Xiaomi air fryers are reported to have sent personal data to servers in China.

EU backs out of surveillance plan

Brussels backs down on mass surveillance

The European Union (EU) Council has made a last-minute withdrawal of the EU’s highly controversial planned “Chat Control” legislation, which was due to vote yesterday. This would have effectively introduced mass digital surveillance by means of fully automated real-time monitoring of all messaging and chats. The EU would appear to finally have heeded the harsh warnings that have been coming from the cybersecurity and communication sectors since the controversial ruling was first proposed in 2022. For the six months prior to Thursday’s decision, the EU Belgian Council presidency has been sitting on a deadlock between EU countries. Germany and Poland have heeded privacy experts' warnings of a potential police state. But Ireland and Spain are pressing for draconian new online laws to fight a rise in online child sexual abuse material that has grown since the start of Europe’s widespread lockdowns two and a half years ago.

brussels digital surveillance

Brussels plots mass EU digital surveillance

While the world’s attention is focused on the arrest of Telegram owner, Pavel Durov, and Brazil’s decision to ban Elon Musk’s X platform ( formerly Twitter), the European Union (EU) Council in Brussels is hoping to quietly greenlight the EU’s proposed controversial “Chat Control” legislation. On Thursday, the EU is due to vote on planned legislation intended to introduce mass digital surveillance by means of fully automated real-time monitoring of messaging and chats, marking the end of private digital correspondence. Ostensibly, the proposal aims to prevent the online dissemination of child sexual abuse material. But there are growing concerns that the controversial new ruling will extend far beyond arresting purveyors of child porn and be used for the full-scale state-monitoring of personal and business communications in Europe and beyond.

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