Big Brother Revealed: The Secret System Reveals How China Tracks Foreigners

Suddenly, Hooper recognized his own face in the system, in a photo taken by Chinese immigration officials. Next to the photo appeared his passport number and the mobile phone number he used during his stay in China, a discovery that astonished him and made it clear to him that the person who entered the data into the system had inside access to completely real government information.

China is monitoring its 1.4 billion citizens on an unprecedented scale, using a network of security cameras, cellphone identifiers and national ID cards. The database revealed by Hopper provides a rare glimpse into how Chinese authorities are expanding their surveillance network to include foreign residents. The system presented records carefully cataloged by nationality, date of birth, sex, marital status, address, profession, and sometimes even religion. The information also included documentation of moments when those strangers were captured on camera at major intersections, markets, shopping centers, and even mosques.

A New York Times investigation found ties between the platform and Origin Dynamic, a Beijing-based company that provides robotics, surveillance equipment and technology services to local police, according to public tender documents. The company applied for a patent in 2023 for a similar system, which was described as an “information interface for non-Chinese citizens” and was almost identical in design and functionality to the platform found open on the web. The system collected vast amounts of data on foreigners, from hospital visits and gas payments, to flights and train journeys, including documentation of specific seat numbers.

The exposed system included targeted segmentations: it classified citizens from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand under the heading “Five Eyes Alliance”. At the same time, she particularly emphasized residents from “key countries”, a classified list that included, among others, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Morocco, Pakistan and Sudan.