To:       Hong Kong Citizens,

            Members of the Legislative Council,

            Friends around the world who concern about Hong Kong’s freedom & democracy,

 

“Say NO to Surveillance” Hong Kong opposes China’s social credit system

 

The Chinese Communist government has surreptitiously launched the “Social Credit System” in Mainland China since 2009. Citizens are completely unaware of its implementation until over 23 million people are rejected to board the highspeed trains which forces the revealing of such atrocious policy. Such terror expeditiously spread through mainland cities and alarming those across the border in Hong Kong. [1] There are obvious indications that the regime had been planning such large scale surveillance system in Hong Kong too for a while.

 

According to the Policy Address in 2017, the “SmartCity” project underlay the controversial mass surveillance infrastructure planning, all funded by tax money paid by the public. Under such ridiculously large development scheme, the Hong Kong government launched its first phase of installing and activating multiple kinds of “Smart lampposts” in 2019. The earliest set of lampposts has already begun to function in testing since June 2019. In the 1st phase of the project, 44 posts will be installed in Kwun Tong District, including 24 posts in Sheung Yuet Road, 20 posts at the Kwun Tong Town Center. During the next phase, another 50 posts will be installed at Hong Ling Road, Tai Yip Street, Tsun Yip Street, Lai Yip Street, Kwun Tong Road and Hoi Yuen Road. By 2021-22, there would be around 400 smart lampposts installed in the densely populated city areas of Kowloon Bay, Kai Tai development, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mongkok districts.

 

According to the official data from the government, the “Smart lampposts” collect large volume of data for different department, such as[2]:

1. Collect live transport information through detectors and surveillance cameras;

2. Collect air quality data in the district through detectors, and monitor illegal garbage dumping and black smoke emissions from vehicles through surveillance cameras;

3. Through Bluetooth transmitters, RFID technology and QR code for lampposts geological location, provides location service, support government services and available for third parties application development.

4. Together with the 5G network development, provides Wi-Fi.

The information from the government might be not giving us a comprehensive and thorough picture. No one can tell if the regime deliberately hides and deprives the public of the right to know what they are planning behind the scene. According to analysis from I.T. professionals, the actual purpose of installing the “Smart Lampposts” could be:

 

Surveillance Camera

Although the official documents stated that “Video records will not be stored”, it does not guarantee “No data will be transferred” or “No data will be recorded”. Face, gesture, clothing, and vehicle recognitions are ad-hoc processes. Processed data are tiny in volume, and does not require large scale storage unit like the traditional surveillance cameras. The basic informational data recorded could be “Identification”, “Time”, and “Location”. There is a further possibility that “Video record will not be stored” is a lie. Public data could be accessed and recorded by anyone in the authorities.

 

Bluetooth functions

There could be possibilities of locating any device around the lamppost with Bluetooth function on, such as mobile phones, tablets, computers, watches, earphones, smart wristband, or even smart home devices (e.g. smart lamps, doorbells), etc. Comparing the Bluetooth MAC address of these devices, it is possible to confirm the identity of the owner. It is also possible to search the database for all records for the appearance of devices, with timestamp and geological location. The cost of a Bluetooth MAC address collector is only HK$100. It is a relatively small amount even if the government decides to install it in all the “smart lampposts”, and it may already be the case now. Otherwise, the collector could be installed in locations without surveillance camera coverage. It could provide extra information to compensate for the lack of camera monitor, and scout for targeted individuals at ease.

 

RFID functions

The new smart HKID might be accessed and recorded by a largescale RFID collector, and the “Smart lampposts” is one of such devices. The recent mass arrest of Anti-Extradition Law protestors shows the already alarming degree of infringement of privacy. Anti-RFID wallets as  a way of keeping our ID cards and bankcards safe has again entered public discussion as a result.

 

However, the Octopus card company suddenly announced their support on iOS devices in this controversial time. Technically, using “Octopus card” on a smartphone device could extend the detection distance from 10cm to 1 meter. In other countries, the smart transport card RFID function is always in standby on, preparing for transactions. Even in low voltage (such as within 4 hours after powering off a phone), the RFID functions properly. Our personal data is exposed in the air all the time. If the government deliberately guides the citizens to walk a certain path close to the RFID collectors (like smart lampposts), the data in the “Octopus card” and other information could be collected without consent.

 

Wifi functions

Most of the mobile devices use “random MAC address” to search for HotSpot connections to ensure privacy and security. The actual hardware MAC address will only expose when a connection is made. If a citizen uses the Free WiFi provided by the “Smart Lampposts”, personal data would be compromised and the government can use the data to locate individuals. Any person accessing the internet with the Free WiFi provided by the government could be closely monitored and subject to government arbitration.

 

4G/5G functions

With the current 4G/5G technology, it is possible to track a very accurate location of the mobile device (i.e. citizen’s location). Due to the legal procedure, authorities have to request network service provider to release relevant information. This once was the last resort of citizen’s privacy. If the” Smart lampposts” are managed by the government, or a mini cell is secretly added to the posts (the lower the frequency results more accurate location), the regime could collect all the IMEI number from the surrounding mobile devices. Without the procedure to request information from the network service provider, the government can track down any citizen at any time.

 

Future technology development

Nowadays, by using microphone array technology, the conversation of a targeted individual could be easily separated and analyzed from a noisy environment. The government could even hear us speaking to ourselves on the street if they want. In the near future, development of the Artificial Intelligence could predict our actions, alert the authorities and inform their suppression tactics. These are what “Smart lampposts” could do soon.

 

From now on, whenever citizens walk by the “Smart Lampposts”, personal data could be harvested without their knowing by the government, and they only need 1 or 2 relevant data to identify an individual. It is believed that the system would even flag some targeted individuals and they will be closely monitored by this surveillance system.

 

In the “Smartcity Blueprint” scheme, there are also many other ways to collect personal data, such as medical services, taxation, banking, airport services, internet, shopping transactions, chats and conversations, and mobile apps. All these data could be collected and analyzed. Do we, the Hongkongers, still have what we called “Freedom” and “Democracy”?

 

We believed that under the cover of the “Smartcity” project, the regime tightening the grips on monitoring and controlling the citizen’s lives. Hong Kong is definitely the under the same mass surveillance menace like the social credit system of Communist China. The government has not thoroughly explain and consult the general public before the project’s implementation and deprive the citizen’s rights to know.

 

We now demand the Hong Kong government to:

1. Provide the public a thorough and comprehensive explanation and reveal all details for the “Smart city blueprint” and “Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area”;

2. Reveal all the technical documents, and all collected data and information;

3. Instantly stop installing and dismantle all the installed “Smart Lampposts”;

4. Adopt legislative and administrative measures, ensure citizens’ rights and privacy are protected.

 

We also call for support from the International communities:

1. We call upon the U.S. government immediately to repeal the “United States–Hong Kong Policy Act”, and promptly pass the “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act”. To protect the freedom and democracy of Hong Kong.

2. We call upon all international human rights organizations to complain and strongly condemn the PRC and Hong Kong SAR government for the strict surveillance and suppression on all citizens

 

Stand with us.

We are HongKongers. And we are proud of it.

 

A group of Hong Kong citizens who love our own city

14th July 2019

 

[1] Media report about China social credit system, only available in Chinese from HK01 2019-07-10：【中國社會信用評分】大數據打撃無賴成未來監獄？即計你有幾分 （tiny.cc/maok9y） 及 2018-03-18內地「社會信用系統」為人民評分　5.1起失信者不得坐飛機火車

 

[2] Smart Surveillance Lampposts – Digital data available to public access https://data.gov.hk/tc-data/dataset/hk-landsd-openmap-geodetic-smartlp-positioning