The China’s mass surveillance phone app, which can be used by the public to record conversations and gather information from the device, is becoming a popular tool for intelligence agencies across the globe. As more people are turning to their cell phones to conduct business, the ability to eavesdrop on conversations and collect information from the device is becoming ever more useful.
In a recent article in the Financial Times (FT), investigative reporter Patrick Winn noted that the Chinese mass surveillance phone app can allow the government to listen in on conversations or record the contents of conversations that are held on mobiles. It can do this without the permission of the people on either end of the conversation. It can also track a person’s movements with such ease, he noted. Winn reported that he had spoken with a former US law enforcement official who had tried to use the tool but had been unsuccessful.
Such surveillance programs have already been employed in repressive countries around the world and in the United States. Such efforts to monitor and spy on the citizens of other nations are becoming increasingly common and more people are turning to phones and other electronic devices to conduct business with one another.
According to Winn, the mass surveillance phone app is used widely throughout the country to track and gather information on the people who call the majority of its users. For instance, it can be used to track how long a person hangs up on you, where you go at any given time or who you are calling or sending text messages to. This is all done with a simple text message or phone call.
Such mass surveillance programs can also track the location of the person who dials the most numbers, where they go at certain times, and what websites they visit during certain hours. They can even be used to track and follow someone on their mobile device.
The mass surveillance phone app works by recording conversations and transmitting the data directly to the computer of an operator of the system. The operator then stores the recorded information and uses it to collect details about the caller such as their name, address, age, gender, family background, current occupation and marital status.
Such information can then be sent to various intelligence agencies, such as the CIA or FBI. The information can be used for everything from criminal investigations to determining a person’s eligibility for a visa to getting a job.
Winn reported that he has spoken with some of the individuals who have been tracked through the mass surveillance phone app and has discovered that some of them were offered deals to pay to get the information erased so that they won’t be able to use it against them. However, others were offered compensation to give up the information.
Winn said that he had not spoken with anyone who had agreed to pay to delete their data through the mass surveillance phone app and noted that he was skeptical about how such a large database could possibly be kept confidential. He also noted that such a database could potentially be abused by government officials in order to harass political activists.
Winn acknowledged, however, that the mass surveillance phone app is a legal tool that allows for easy access to personal information. for law enforcement officials and security personnel who want to find out more about a person they believe to be a threat to their security. In some cases, it may even be used to protect businesses from competitors.
Winn told Fox News that he hopes to see the authorities to implement policies that would require the use of such information only for good reasons, such information that might help law enforcement and other government officials to protect the public. He also suggested that Congress consider legislation that would require companies to provide such information for free to everyone.
