Ethan Tu (杜奕瑾), creator of the Professional Technology Temple (PTT) online bulletin board, on Monday warned the public against using Chinese apps and hardware, which he said could be used to collect users’ personal information without their consent.
Citing an article published on Friday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation about a series of data leaks at several Chinese firms, Tu wrote on Facebook that the people who built the compromised databases either lacked knowledge of cybersecurity or did not value it.
Chinese artificial intelligence company SenseNets Technology Ltd (中國深網視科技), which develops video-based crowd analysis and facial recognition technology, was last month found to have left its facial recognition database exposed for at least six months.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Two more databases were since found to have been breached, affecting 364 million users, Tu said.
The leaked information includes identification numbers, nationalities, telephone numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, facial recognition and location data, and chat and traffic violation records, he said, adding that people can freely download and modify the information.
“Were they exposed so that China’s national security departments can thoroughly study them?” Tu asked.
While it is difficult to make a database that incorporates private and public systems 100 percent safe, the exposed databases had zero protection and no password protection, he said.
It proves that the Chinese government has been collecting real-time information via apps such as WeChat (微信), QQ and Aliwangwang (阿里旺旺), as well as Apple Inc’s messaging platform, he said.
The information can be automatically collected by China’s state surveillance system without users’ consent, he added.
“The best way to protect yourself is to choose online platforms and hardware from trustworthy providers and partners,” Tu said.
For example, when using an Apple smartphone for the first time, avoid setting your location as China to prevent personal information from being shared with the Chinese surveillance system, he said.
People should also avoid using any apps, Internet services or hardware from Chinese providers, Tu said.
While any company could gather its customers’ personal information, in the West, companies that are found to have done so in unethical ways would be punished by the market, but Chinese companies do not face such consequences, he said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government