China: Internal security obsession of the communist party

There are airport like security checks with luggage scanners and screeners in many places in China. On every subway station, museums, etc.

How many domestic terrorist attacks have occured in China over the past several decades? Maybe they were not reported in Western media.

I find this very annoying!

Inside Uzbekistan's nationwide license plate and car occupants surveillance system

Is this part of the future? Automated traffic violations enforcement?

How often are these records deleted or how long are they retained? Who monitors?

Do we want government to be able to know all the time where we are going? Orwellian? The Road to Serfdom?

Caveat: I did not read the article.

Inside Uzbekistan's nationwide license plate surveillance system | TechCrunch "Across Uzbekistan, a network of about a hundred banks of high-resolution roadside cameras continuously scan vehicles’ license plates and their occupants, sometimes thousands a day, looking for potential traffic violations. Cars running red lights; drivers not wearing their seatbelts; and unlicensed vehicles driving at night, to name a few."

Banks Are red flagging your transactions Because Congress Forces Them To

Food for thought! How serious is the issue? Are there better ways to identify financial transactions by criminals?

How much does it help to catch real criminals or their collaborators?

"The Bank Secrecy Act has morphed from its originally intended purpose into an overreaching surveillance tool. It inadvertently gathers information on Americans who make legitimate banking transactions and then secretively transmits those details as “red flags” to the federal government for review. It’s time for Congress to end this decades-old practice of forcing banks to act as informants by repealing this law and restoring financial privacy."

Caveat: I did not read the article!

Banks Are Narcing on You Because Congress Forces Them To | Cato Institute "The Bank Secrecy Act regime forces banks to report customers to the government for an ever-growing list of “red flags.”"

Cato Today

China begins smartphone inspections as part of espionage law

More communist surveillance state in action!

"Chinese national security authorities now have greater power to inspect smartphones and other electronic devices, raising fears that foreigners will face such inspections upon entering the country."

China begins smartphone inspections as part of espionage law - Nikkei Asia Some foreigners fear having electronic devices examined when entering country

FedEx’s Secretive Police Force Is Helping Cops Build An AI Car Surveillance Network

Recommendable and concerning!

China Undercover by FRONTLINE

Very disturbing and shocking!

I hope, Frontline did not endanger the main Han collaborator in this documentary by giving away way too many clues as to his identity! It was irresponsible of Frontline to  do this!

German Domestic Security Agency Competes With NSA

Posted: 8/7/2014

Just read “Heimliche Handy-Ortung Verfassungsschutz verschickt Zehntausende „stille SMS“ Mit sogenannten „stillen SMS“ versucht der Verfassungsschutz, Personen zu orten und Bewegungsprofile von Verdächtigen zu erstellen. Mehr als 50.000 Kurzmitteilungen wurden in den vergangenen sechs Monaten verschickt.” (German language)

According to this article the German Domestic Intelligence Service (Bundesverfassungsschutz or Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution) has been using more than 50,000 of silent/hidden text messages to profile or track the movements of persons in Germany  just in the first six months of 2014.

Similar, the German FBI (Bundeskriminalamt) also uses this technology on a large scale. The German border protection service (Bundesgrenzschutz) would not even disclose its use of it.

Were the German officials just hypocrites when they blamed the NSA?