China’s ‘data doors’ scoop up information straight from your phone

The security screeners scan more than your face, picking up MAC addresses and IMEI numbers

Reading Time:3 minutes

Published: 5:00am, 10 May 2019Updated: 6:01am, 10 May 2019

Facial recognition devices have become ubiquitous across China. But what you probably didn’t know is that some of these machines can snatch up information straight from your smartphone.

While they look like regular metal detectors on the outside, they’re much more than that. Aside from facial recognition and ID card verification, the so-called “three-dimensional portrait and integrated data doors” vacuum up MAC addresses, IMEI numbers and other identifying information from electronic devices. This data is unique to a user’s hardware, and it could potentially be used to track people.

A new report from Human Rights Watch uncovered the use of these data doors at certain checkpoints in Xinjiang, where the government is using heavy surveillance to monitor the local Uyghur Muslim minority.

These data doors include facial recognition sensors, ID scanners and sensors for collecting electronic device information. At the Aq Mosque in Urumqi, 2018. (Picture: Joanne Smith Finley)

“People that went through it only knew that they were going through facial recognition, but they didn't know identifying information from their electronic devices was also being collected to be logged and tracked,“ said Maya Wang, a senior researcher for China at Human Rights Watch.

China already has the biggest video surveillance network in the world called Skynet. It's also trialing facial recognition blacklists such as those that shame jaywalkers, unlicensed drivers and even bad tourists.