China Wants Telecom Companies to Inform on Clients

China wants to be able to force ISPs to help the government identify people that “discuss state secrets.” Why? It’s not like the Chinese government ever had problems getting this info in the past.

China is poised to strengthen a law to require telecommunications and Internet companies to inform on customers who discuss state secrets, potentially forcing businesses to collaborate with the country's vast security apparatus that stifles political dissent.

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if you don't all chip in your buck o'five who will/mmm buck o'five/freedom costs a buck o'five

In China, state secrets have been so broadly defined that virtually anything — maps, GPS coordinates, even economic statistics — could fall under the category, and officials sometimes use the classification as a way to avoid disclosing information

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Look! I see about a few hundred people walking in streets from my hotel room! Oh noes! I just disclosed some sort of economic statistic!

Hey China, the Partriot Act is an American thing... You can't have it! --sounds of Homeland Security busting into room in background--

Least its not a snip-

I'm tired of people and their "stop killing and oppressing me!" bullshyte. It gets old.

Steve said:

China wants to be able to force ISPs to help the government identify people that “discuss state secrets.”

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So, how exactly would an ISP know if someone is discussing a "state secret", unless the ISP knew the state secret? I assume then that China will be providing ISP's with a list of all state secrets that should be monitored and reported if discussed???

ProphetSix said:

So, how exactly would an ISP know if someone is discussing a "state secret", unless the ISP knew the state secret? I assume then that China will be providing ISP's with a list of all state secrets that should be monitored and reported if discussed???

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You, are a genius!

How is this any different to what's going on in the west? The ACTA agreement is going to require ISPs to monitor all customer's internet connections with deep packet inspection and store details of all communications.

The UK is already ahead of the game and is requiring this through the Digital Economy Act. We're already heavily monitored here in the UK and, with no equivalent of the first amendment, heavily restricted in what we can say. We're well on the way to a surveillance state at the same levels as China so I really don't understand why people spend so much time worry about what's happening in China and so little time worry about what's happening in the west.

Unlike here where the NSA just taps into the backbone and does not need to ask the ISP squat ?

If you WERE discussing state secrets (doesn't matter what country), can't you just encrypt it between you the the other parties? I don't see how anyone can decrypt that information in a timely manner before any "harm" is done.