China forces Muslims to add spyware on phones
- Authorities in China have sent out a notice asking citizens of Muslim-majority region to install a surveillance app.
- Android users have been asked to scan the QR code and install the Jingwang app.
- This app is capable of automatically detecting terrorist and illegal religious videos, images, e-books and electronic documents.
FollowIn China, Xinjiang is a Muslim-majority region and if reports are to be believed then the company is forcing residents to install spyware on their phones.
Authorities in China have sent out a notice asking citizens to install a surveillance app on their phones in order to monitor these citizens. According to Radio Free Asia ( Mashable), the notice as seen in this tweet below was sent to citizens via WeChat. It is written in Uyghur and Chinese and sent to residents of Urumqi, which is Xinjiang's capital.
— Delinda Tien (@TienDelinda) July 14, 2017
Android users have been asked to scan the QR code and install the Jingwang app. This app is capable of automatically detecting terrorist and illegal religious videos, images, e-books and electronic documents, the report adds. Users will have to delete such content, if detected.
The Jinwang app also keeps a copy of Weibo and WeChat records, and makes a note of the IMEI numbers, SIM card data and Wi-Fi login data. These records are then sent to the server.
The report adds that the eight million Uighurs have been complaining of oppression such as earlier this year the government had banned veil and growing long beards. Such apps are a threat to privacy and it is still unclear what all data it is capable of collecting.
