"By the end of this year, all of 1,500 Internet cafés in Beijing will be equipped with a camera and an ID card scanner. The cafes will be required to take photos and swipe the IDs of first-time visitors before they are allowed to surf the Internet. Once acquired, the information will be passed to Municipal Law Enforcement Agency of Beijing, which is in charge of the monitoring work. Repeat visitors would get a net café user number which they can input to log in the computer." [1]
An Internet Cafe in Beijing (Photo by AP/WWP)
It's been already a long time since people in China began to show their IDs to use computers in Internet Cafes in many cities of China. I agree that it helps prevent cybercrimes arising from anonymousness on the Internet. However, the policy of storing scanned images of IDs and photos taken[2] will probably cause more serious problems. How can we ensure that there won't be the leaking of personal information? We already have such experience too many times. More seriously, it is also possible that the information is obtained by criminals. What will you feel like if some criminals recognize you and know your home address? I don't even want to imagine.
Do you have any good idea for the identifying system? I would like hear your opinion. Thanks!
References
[1] "Cameras Draw Closer to Beijing's Internet Cafes", China Journal, The Wall Street Journal
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinajournal/2008/10/17/cameras-draw-closer-to-beijings-internet-cafes/
[2] Xinhua News Agency, "Photo IDs Required in Beijing Internet Cafes", The China Internet Information Center (china.org.cn)
http://www.china.org.cn/living_in_china/news/2008-10/17/content_16625644.htm
Very interesting article. We just read an article Coercive Vs. Caring surveillance in our 531 class and this seems a good example of where to draw the line. they want to monitor who might abuse the system but at the same time, exposing so many identifying personal information that, if in the wrong hands, can be a major privacy threat.
Hi, Rachida. Could you tell me the name of the article? I would like to read that.
Thanks! :)
I would like to add another reason for this policy: there is not only cybercrime in Chinese internet cafes, but also traditional crime, such as fighting, drug dealing and even murder. Actually, I think the policy aims more that traditional crime rather than cybercrime.
One of the possible reasons for the crime is that those who often go to Internet cafes are teenagers, who are addicted to internet gaming but don't have much money. In a lot of places, internet cafes become where gangs grow and gather.
Of course, that doesn't mean I support this policy. Also, in fact, policies like this are not well executed in a lot of (if not most) internet cafes.
Hi Kang. Thank you for explaining other reasons for the policy. I didn't know that there're such many unhappy things being happened in Internet cafes in China. Yes, some identification policy is necessary for preventing those kinds of crimes. However, personal information should be strictly protected. Balancing a "Coercive Vs. Caring" problem is difficult, but IST's security research group may help. :)