China plans to track Beijing citizens through their mobiles | World news | The Guardian

Li Guoguang, deputy director of the Beijing municipal science and technology commission, said the project would be used to tackle congestion by allowing officials to monitor the flow of people through the transport system.

“To some degree, [it] can effectively increase citizens’ travelling efficiency and ease traffic jams,” he told the Beijing Daily.

He added that citizens would be able to buy the information, although more sensitive information – such as the location of individuals – would not be available.

But while Beijing’s roads are increasingly congested, experts say there are plenty of ways to assess and manage traffic and suggest the project is bound to be used for security purposes too.

“Certainly the use of the platform will not be limited to gathering traffic information. Officials in other areas, such as anti-terrorism and stability maintenance, will also find it useful,” Chen Derong, professor of wireless communications at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, told the South China Morning Post.

via China plans to track Beijing citizens through their mobiles | World news | The Guardian.

I want to know how much opium the Chinese government has to slip into the rice supply to have a populace that is worth being this overtly full of sh*t with. I mean, I understand the level of force they also have shown in the past that they’re willing to use, but that this isn’t anything more than a complete waste of media room is kind of a shock to me. Of COURSE it’s being used to stifle discontent. This is the same technology that even Batman only used for a matter of hours in “The Dark Knight” when faced off against both Two-Face AND the Joker at the same time, before he had it destroyed. This is sheer insanity.