Kinesiska gränsvakter installerar regelmässigt spionprogram i turisters telefoner vid Irkeshtams gränsstation, avslöjar brittiska The Guardian.

Gränsen, Kinas närmaste gräns mot väst, är populär och används av turister för dagsturer in i Kina. Vid inpasseringen kontrolleras alla turister noga och deras telefoner genomfår också kontroller ihc det vid dessa kontroller som spionprogrammen installeras.

Chinese border police are secretly installing surveillance apps on the phones of visitors and downloading personal information as part of the government’s intensive scrutiny of the remote Xinjiang region, the Guardian can reveal.

The Chinese government has curbed freedoms in the province for the local Muslim population, installing facial recognition cameras on streets and in mosques and reportedly forcing residents to download software that searches their phones.

The Guardian

Spionprogrammet

Spionprogrammet samlar in kontakter, meddelanden, e-post och information om enheten i sig. Spionprogrammet söker också efter information – om Dalai Lama, ett japanskt rockband och om fastan och andra muslimska högtider.

The iPhones are plugged into a reader that scans them, while Android phones have the app installed to do the same job.
It seems that in most cases the app is uninstalled before the phone is returned, but some travellers have found it still on their phone.

It is unclear where all extracted information goes and for how long it is stored.
While there is no evidence that the data is used to track people later in their journeys, the information it collects would allow the authorities to locate someone if used together with details of the phone’s location.

The Guardian