BEIJING SECURITY CAMERAS TREAT KISSES AS MUGGINGS
COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM NOT 'INTELLIGENT' ENOUGH, SOME FEAR TECHNOLOGY MAY FURTHER ERODE BASIC RIGHTS
1 August 2007

A system of security cameras set up throughout the Chinese capital is overseen by computers that cannot distinguish between affectionate embraces and muggings. The government is seeking to ensure that violence is not a problem in the intensely crowded city, in order to step up commerce, tourism and public image, ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games, to be hosted there.

The official state-run news agency, Xinhua, reports that affectionate acts between couples in love can be interpreted by the computerized system as kidnappings or muggings. The report itself is a healthy sign, perhaps of progress toward more open relations between the government and the population.

Toward the end of last year, there was a heated debate about the rights of the individual and the import of the government spying on its citizens in their daily activities. China already has a massive and well-developed state security apparatus that does in fact spy on citizens and has in the past been used to limit freedom of movement and to prevent interaction between political activists and foreign associates.

There are at least, according to a study by China Daily, 265,000 video surveillance cameras in Beijing already, with the total expected to expand dramatically in coming months and years, as the system evolves. The government has issued assurances that it intends to respect citizens' privacy and that images will be used only for the intended purposes, ostensibly to prevent or prosecute violent assault. Fines of 30,000 yuan should attach to any abuses. [s]

• La Vanguardia: "En Pekín los enamorados pueden ser tomados por delincuentes"