Beijing's mobile phone tracking plan sparks concerns
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A new plan that enables Beijing authorities to track the whereabouts of citizens, which is meant to ease the national capital's traffic congestion, has raised privacy concerns.
Earlier this week, the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission announced that it would work with China Mobile, the country's largest mobile communication operator, to set up an information platform to collect real-time locations from 17 million Beijing citizens after tracking their China Mobile phones.
The plan has been discussed and applauded by an expert panel invited by the commission. Tests are expected to be performed in Huilongguan and Tiantongyuan, two densely populated communities in the city.
Concerns despite pledges
Many citizens are still complaining even though Li Guoguang, an official with the commission, promised in media interviews that personal information about mobile phone users would be "strictly" protected when the platform provided services.
"I understand their intention is good, but I felt uncomfortable after knowing that my mobile phone will probably be tracked at anytime and anywhere," said a woman surnamed Yan who worked at a Beijing-based education research institution.
Jiang Feng, another Beijing resident, also felt reluctant to accept the plan, mostly fearing that his personal information would be sold.
In fact, on Tuesday, 23 people, including several mobile communication operators, stood trial for selling personal information of phone users in Beijing.
"Although illegal operators are few, they may cause huge losses," Jiang said.
"Another point is, who is to supervise the public power?" asked Wang Shichuan, a media commentator.
Wang asked the question in an article published in the China Economic Times, a daily newspaper operated by the Development Research Center of the State Council.
Zhou Hanhua, a law researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, echoed Wang's question.
"How can the government prove that they are committed to their pledges? The public has no way to know," Zhou said.
In response to such concerns, Yan Aoshuang, the head of the commission, said that besides studying technologies, the government would also formulate regulations to "properly" tackle the public's privacy concerns.
Excessive worries?
Some technical experts said that these concerns were largely unnecessary.
An Internet security expert with the Beijing Rui'an Technology Co., Ltd. told Xinhua that, in general, the mobile communication operator would use a "virtual point" to represent a phone user when providing the tracking results to the platform.
Under this circumstance, the phone number and SIM card information would not be open for platform users, said the expert who requested anonymity.
"It means that the platform administrators and users can only know that the point represents a person, but not his or her identity," he said.
Cai Xiaobing, the vice president of Eris China, a leading company that specializes in geographic information systems, said that the tracking of phone users for traffic management would only focus on collecting the number of users in a specific period of time and a specific place.
If mobile phone users' personal information is leaked, their rights would be protected under Chinese laws, said Chen Jinqiao, a senior telecom expert.
According to the country's Criminal Law, employees in government departments, as well as in financial, communication, traffic, education and medical institutions, could be sentenced to up to three years in jail if they illegally provide personal information to others.
The use of mobile phone tracking to manage real-time population density and flow is common in some places in Europe and Japan, Chen said. "It's more efficient than ordinary measures, such as street questionnaires."
Beijing has a population of over 20 million, including permanent and floating residents, as well as 4.5 million vehicles. The traffic congestion has been a persistent headache for the government.
