China, Fears That Pokemon GO May Aid Locating Military Bases

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Leave it to the Chinese to go into full panic mode over a game that isn't even available in that country. I shouldn't laugh but some of the quotes in this article are just hilarious.

And although the game is not available in China, the world's biggest smartphone and online gaming market, some people there fear it could become a Trojan horse for offensive action by the United States and Japan. "Don't play Pokemon GO!!!" said user Pitaorenzhe on Chinese microblogging site Weibo. "It's so the U.S. and Japan can explore China's secret bases! Then, when war breaks out, Japan and the U.S. can easily target their guided missiles, and China will have been destroyed by the invasion of a Japanese-American game," said a social media post circulated on Weibo.
 
How exactly is the game going to map anything that isn't already mapped? It has to be using already available mapping data.

If it isn't sarcastic, then the people that are freaking out are idiots.
 
Right. Because we haven't been scouring the footage from our satellites or triangulating their radio emissions or anything. Our trillion dollar warmachine would come grinding to a screeching halt if we didn't have this game to trick all the innocent Chinese with. Figure for a country with more honor students than we have citizens, the opposite must be true. They have more fucking retards than there are people in the EU.
 
If a game can find your military bases, you have bigger problems than a video game.
 
jflail2 said:
Uhhhhh, we have U-2's and satellites that are already taking those pictures....and have been for a long time.
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Ya, whoever thinks these things obviously doesn't seem to know what capabilities the US already has in place.
 
I would imagine the easiest thing to do would be take the GPS check-ins and locate any activity from remote area's where there is nothing on the map. cross reference it to men of military age and you could probably locate a "secret" base that knows nothing about security practices by allowing WiFi and or cell tower access.
 
Japan doesn't even have an offensive military... are they really stuck 70 years in the past over there? Oh noes, Japan will attack us again! LOL
 
It uses GPS and google maps API.... It would only show a military base if it's already in googles satellite/map archive... Unless they fear someone just stumbling on a secret base, then I guess they should just ban walking?
 
Biznatch said:
It uses GPS and google maps API.... It would only show a military base if it's already in googles satellite/map archive... Unless they fear someone just stumbling on a secret base, then I guess they should just ban walking?
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They'd have to ban anyone from using Pokemon Go near those bases. The app would map their location, even if it wasn't on Google Maps. But, that'd be an issue with them with a lot of other apps, too.

I know with Android, you can view where you've been. Find a few military folks, get their data from Google, map out where they've been. Eventually, with enough data, you could find military bases easily.

Definitely not limited to Pokemon Go (although, the AR visuals could be used to 'spy' on the place if it was modified for them).
 
Do they really think we don't know where their bases are already or something?

We spend billions of dollars specifically on that.
 
EODetroit said:
Japan doesn't even have an offensive military... are they really stuck 70 years in the past over there? Oh noes, Japan will attack us again! LOL
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Japan has a "defense only" military equipped with the best technology we can give them... *cough* F35's *cough*
 
> it was supposed to be sarcasm?

there may be a valid concern as the app does street level mapping as well as facial mapping, but chinese officials do have a penchant for hyperbole and overreaction...

'all chinese people, yooooooouuuu better listen! you stay in line! HUH! better to not stray from the beaten path, unless you are the one who wishes to be beaten! troublemaker!! look down and be humble! the streets are not your scenery! if you wish to walk, use a treadmill, huh?! do not make trouble! or else you will regret it!! all traitors to the glorious chinese republic will be harshly punished! HMPH!!'

i wonder how the citizenry take to such performances.

meritocracy my ass.
 
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.
 
fuzzylogik said:
Lol. maybe ... it was supposed to be sarcasm? maybe? hopefully? no?
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Maybe from someone who really wants to play Pokemon Go?

China is probably blocking the game so it doesn't hurt Chinese cell phone game companies.
 
Biznatch said:
It uses GPS and google maps API.... It would only show a military base if it's already in googles satellite/map archive... Unless they fear someone just stumbling on a secret base, then I guess they should just ban walking?
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Well, if most people can't go onto such facilities, then conceivably there would be no Pokemon to catch on them either, meaning if you mapped all the areas where Pokemon are found, "shadows", negative areas absent pokemon hits would reveal possible locations restricted to the public, some of which could be military or secret facilities.

It's feasible.

But if instead you were to be able to map cell phone location data you could do a much more thorough job. Track all the phones, find areas where only certain phones ever go, and areas where no phones go. Then focus other collection resources to build a more complete picture.

But mostly, I am thinking the Chinese are more like us, less worried about creating "secret bases" and more concerned with security of the ones we have.
 
EODetroit said:
Japan doesn't even have an offensive military... are they really stuck 70 years in the past over there? Oh noes, Japan will attack us again! LOL
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I'm not sure how to take this comment. The idea of having an offensive or defensive military was always a bit stupid when it comes to the reality of war. I suppose the easy translation is that if you only have a defensive military, then you actually just have a gimped military, which means you have a military that is probably just going to loose whether you are attacking or defending. It's like going into a boxing match saying you are going to tie one hand behind your back and not throw any punches, you can't win and you are most likely going to get your ass kicked really bad. I suppose it makes a political statement but that's really all it's good for. Better hope you have strong and friendly neighbors.
 
An interesting take on crowd sourcing possibilities, that's genius.
 
xorbe said:
An interesting take on crowd sourcing possibilities, that's genius.
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Actually, it is.

The Army has been fond of a saying for the last decade or more, "Every soldier is a sensor".

Maybe the newest catch phrase is "Every cellphone is a sensor".

I know the Big Data guys are trying to leverage recreational and small use drones for this reason. The data they could collect has real potential, a money maker for sure.
 
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This isn't news, it's marketing. They basically list off some random things Chinese people have supposedly said online about the game. The only official statement in the whole story is:

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he was unaware of reports that the game could be a security risk and that he didn't have time to play with such things.
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I'm getting tired of this tidal wave of Pokemon marketing.
 
EODetroit said:
Japan doesn't even have an offensive military... are they really stuck 70 years in the past over there? Oh noes, Japan will attack us again! LOL
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Well I don't think China has actively been in a war since Korea. 62 years? So yea! That's obviously why they're trying to modernize.
 
otherweeb said:
Well I don't think China has actively been in a war since Korea. 62 years? So yea! That's obviously why they're trying to modernize.
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Perhaps, if you don't want to call those little jaunts into SE Asia, wars. Perhaps to have it count as a war, the other guys have to be able to put up a fight.

Sino-Vietnamese War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sino-Indian War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Then there are several others of note, like China actually was considered at war in the Vietnam War.

List of wars involving the People's Republic of China - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And a couple of solid attempts to take Taiwan.

Anyway. If China is considered peaceful it's because the people doing the "considering" aren't neighbors.
 
otherweeb said:
Well I don't think China has actively been in a war since Korea. 62 years? So yea! That's obviously why they're trying to modernize.
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Yea, Japan has been ramping up military development and capability for awhile now. The days of a purely defensive oriented Japanese military is long gone.

But my money is still on a war in Europe first. England, France, Spain, Germany, those guys have never been able to keep it in their pants for very long.
 
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