Beijing to trial mobile tracking system: report

[Eugen Leitl]

http://beta.sg.news.yahoo.com/beijing-trial-mobile-tracking-system-report-20110303-090520-169.html

A system designed to track the location of millions of mobile phone users is
to be tested in Beijing, sparking concerns over privacy, state media reported
Thursday.

The information platform will enable authorities to check on the location of
China Mobile's more than 17 million users in the capital, the Global Times
newspaper said, citing the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology
Commission.

The commission made the announcement in a statement posted on its website on
Monday but it was later removed, the newspaper said.

A spokeswoman for China Mobile, the world's largest mobile phone operator,
said she could not immediately respond to questions from AFP and no one at
the commission was available to comment.

The official Beijing Daily newspaper said Wednesday the project would "round
up" information on mobile users' movements around the city including their
time of departure, destination and means of transport.

The data will be used to better control traffic and monitor the population,
the Global Times said, citing an unidentified employee at the commission.

"Our focus is to get general statistics for better traffic management and
population monitoring," the employee said.

"For example, if you want to determine the number of migrants in Beijing, the
platform is far more precise than a door-to-door census."

The system will be tested in two densely populated areas in the city's north
by the end of June, the Global Times said.

The announcement has raised concerns that the system will infringe the
privacy of mobile users, despite pledges by officials that they would make
sure personal data was not leaked, the Global Times said.

The newspaper said 23 people, some of whom had been employed to handle China
Mobile's customer service issues, were currently on trial in Beijing for
selling personal information, such as users' location, on the Internet.