A Chinese cybersecurity expert, known by the pseudonym NetAskari, has revealed to DW details of China's new high-tech policing system that can track anyone and compile a 'holistic profile.' The system integrates data from street cameras, train tickets, and even ski resort facial recognition.
When NetAskari accidentally clicked on a tab labeled 'Inquiry for journalist files' on an unsecured Chinese web dashboard, he found a comprehensive database of almost every foreign journalist based in Beijing around 2021, including passport photos, phone numbers, visa details, and dates of birth.
The system, part of China's emerging 'holographic profile' network, records granular details such as the specific train carriage and seat number a target occupies. It even synchronizes photos from facial-recognition ticket gates at ski resorts directly into its tracking mechanism.
The system logs daily behaviors like gasoline consumption, regular shopping locations, and visits to 'petition areas.' This massive data-fusion effort creates a flawless 'holistic personnel archive' that combines physical whereabouts, consumption habits, and digital footprints.
Chinese security agencies disproportionately focus on citizens from the 'Five Eyes' countries (US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada). Certain foreign journalists are assigned a special 'trackable' tag, triggering automatic police alerts when they enter a jurisdiction.
NetAskari noted that the system renders traditional surveillance obsolete. Police no longer need to follow targets with multiple cars; the system anticipates itineraries through mobile payments, ticket purchases, and social networks, allowing authorities to control what targets see upon arrival.
The system also enables group analysis and relationship modeling, automatically generating network graphs based on camera interactions. In 2019, Chinese tech giant Hisense patented 'holistic relationship models for people involved in cases,' and in 2025, the Shanghai Putuo Public Security Bureau awarded a $200,000 contract for a 'Holistic Personnel Archive System.'
While Western democracies debate surveillance abuses, NetAskari pointed out that in China, 'this debate doesn't exist at all. The police and the Ministry of State Security just do whatever they want with relatively little oversight.'
Source: www.dw.com