[Infowarrior] - Database ensures Big Brother is watching in China

[Richard Forno]

Database ensures Big Brother is watching in China
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060407/2006-04-07T045507Z_01_PEK315345_RT
RIDST_0_NEWS-CHINA-SURVEILLANCE-DC.html

Apr 7, 12:55 AM (ET)

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has recorded details of more than 96 percent of
its population on a police database, state media reported on Friday,
supplementing Internet and other state-sanctioned surveillance.

Since the 2003 launch of its "Gold Shield Program," the Public Security
Bureau had collected information on about 1.25 billion of the country's 1.3
billion people.

"It has helped police uncover many criminal cases," Liu Shuo, a police
official, was quoted by Xinhua news agency as telling a news conference on
Thursday, adding that over 20 percent of criminal cases last year were
solved with help from the database.

The database is just one way in which China keeps tabs on its citizens.

An estimated 30,000 Web police monitor the surfing habits of China's 110
million internet users, and restrict access to Web sites and blogs posting
sensitive material, including topics related to democracy or independence
for Tibet and Taiwan.