New Policy for Guizhou Police - ID Required for Internet Users

Public's Rights to Privacy and Information Access Denied

In early December, Guizhou Police chief Jiang Yanhu held a meeting to bring all Internet cafés into the Internet monitoring system by the end of the year. The Provincial capital of Guiyang is the first target of this measure. Implementation began on December 5.

All Internet users now have to prove their identities with a government issued ID card, driver's licence, or other approved identification to buy an "Internet Shield -- Internet Access Identity Card" for the price of 10 yuan. The information for each user is stored in the monitoring system. To access the Internet in cafés, users have to slide their card through the police-installed scanning device to validate their identity and use a password to log on to the computer. After logging off, they have to run their cards through the scanning device again to exit the monitoring system. This way, all the users' activities while on the Internet at cafés is monitored and under tight control.

Most Internet café managers do not want to install the system because it's expensive and also bad for business. Each scanner costs several hundred yuan plus a monthly fee of several hundred yuan. Of course, the customers don't want to be monitored when they surf the Internet either, and some have appealed to resist this measure.

To ease public pressure, Guizhou Police Department used propaganda to lie and spread terror. First, they spread lies in the media, saying that the Internet monitoring system was only to monitor illegal websites and would not monitor typical internet users. Second, they threatened the Internet café managers that they would be shut down if they didn't comply. They restricted access to articles on the Web that expressed any discontent about the new policy, and coerced café owners to comply with threats of fines and detention.

The manufacture of the "Internet Shield -- Internet Access Identity Card" is supervised by the Guiyang municipal Police Department computer security supervisory department. The system was developed by Guiyang Yifang Computer Technical Development Limited Company. The Internet address for this company is www.yifangsoft.com.

We hope Dafa practitioners in Guizhou will take this opportunity to disclose the matter and clarify the truth, to show everyone who accesses the Internet that the Guizhou Police Department disrespects human rights.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/12/28/63500.html