Surveillance State is an investigation into governmental surveillance with a specific eye on China. In a global economy, the story naturally spills out to involve the activities of many nations, but China is particularly keen on collecting data on its citizens to control their behavior, sometimes even in a "predictive" way. The authors discuss how surveillance in China is a panopticon-- people aren't always being watched, but since the subjects can't know for sure, they assume they could be. Belief in the technology is more important than its actual functioning when it comes to self-regulating behavior. Whether through cameras and facial recognition in the real world or The Great Firewall limiting the digital one, a person's activities could conceivably be used against them at any time. American tech giants like Google, Amazon, and various social media platforms, etc. were driven out or mimicked by analogous, homegrown companies from the start to enable government data harvesting and streamlined censorship by the Communist Party.

Like anywhere else, surveillance in China is not a uniform process. Those viewed as inherently threatening to the Communist Party feel it the most. A particular group that has long been hounded is the Uyghur people in Xinjiang province. A fear of separatist movements among the Turkic Muslims has led to efforts to forcibly assimilate them into majority Han Chinese culture. Uyghurs are tracked in physical and digital spaces assiduously, and anyone viewed as difficult to control finds themself rounded up for reeducation in prison-like compounds that aim to replace religious devotion with loyalty to the state. American actions after 9/11 in the War on Terror provide a ready excuse: Muslims are categorized as susceptible to extremist or terrorist actions, therefore requiring active surveillance. In other parts of China, surveillance makes life easier and smoother... until someone ends up on a governmental blacklist meant to curtail untrustworthy actions. The book gives examples where misunderstandings, clerical errors, and unfair application of these blacklists can put people's lives on hold as they suffer travel bans, credit freezes, or an inability to find work depending on the agency in charge of the particular list.

The might of Chinese tech to carry out surveillance is not limited by its borders. Ambassadors are all too happy to connect other authoritarian governments with Chinese companies for business opportunities. The book specifically walks us through how Huawei's "safe city" in Uganda, a spin on the "smart city" concept, is used to surveil the movements of political enemies and prevent unrest. The authors are careful to deconstruct a line of thinking that frames these actions as a new era of the Cold War. Rather, China beats out Americans for contracts because they don't attempt to prevent digital authoritarianism. Instead, the companies take what has worked in China to advise others and to tailor their products to other nations' needs without imposing values of freedom and privacy. It makes them successful, but there's no attempt to spread communism through these contracts.

The United States is involved in the surveillance apparatus on multiple fronts. It's not as simple as setting up American companies as a foil touting truth, justice, and all that blahblahblah. The book offers multiple examples of "strategic corporate ignorance" as American tech industry giants supply China with components needed for their massive surveillance machine while supposedly not considering what their final application might be i.e. Intel chips that make video surveillance management possible by Chinese police. Partnerships with Chinese companies are lucrative and offer room for experimentation that would be prevented in the West. American investors also make Chinese research possible, including neural network research in machine learning and facial recognition research. And it's not just companies. Public universities and pension and retirement plans have provided funding through private equity firms.

On the back end, the United States has imported some of these surveillance products for its own use. Many states allow their driver's license photos to be collected in an FBI database with few citizens the wiser, and real-time facial recognition has been rolled out in some major cities. The authors introduce the concept of "mission creep" whereby some invasive technology is adopted for a narrow purpose like counterterrorism only to spread into other uses as police see their value. Surveillance tech is now used by ICE and to track protests, both outside the scope of a criminal investigation. Where China is proud of surveillance, U.S. law enforcement is secretive. This makes it hard to know where, how, and why it's being used and set limits on it.

As a final note, I appreciate how the authors address the fact that algorithms aren't objective because they reflect the biases of their creators. This means that the technology meant to improve lives and expected to be fairer than a person can actually just exacerbate inequalities like racial prejudice when built on "pale male datasets." This can happen without thought or be weaponized by governments, harming marginalized groups either way. This was a fascinating read. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for my copy to read and review!

Surveillance State by Josh Chin and Liza Lin is an intense look behind the Great Firewall and the communist governments attempt to control its population and their access to information.
While it may be well known that China represses and tries to control its population I was amazed at the extent and thoroughness of the government and the links it goes to or as the description says" Where is the line between digital utopia and digital police state?
Surveillance State tells the gripping, startling, and detailed story of how China’s Communist Party is building a new kind of political control: shaping the will of the people through the sophisticated—and often brutal—harnessing of data.."
Thank you to #NetGalley, #StMartinsPress, and the authors for the ARC of this very informative book--#SurveillanceState.

I have recently taken a liking to non-fiction reads and this one really taught me a lot. I didn’t realize how interesting this topic was until I finished reading and had to sit with what I had just learned. I definitely would read more from this author.

This is one of the most fascinating books that I have read lately. Several Chinese journalists interview people throughout China about the surveillance of its citizens. The authors do not identify themselves individually in the text, but use the collective "we" when referring to what any one of them has found. So much of China's technology originated in the United States where scientists are much more free to explore innovation, but when Chinese students, who studied in the U.S. and subsequently moved back to China, they took their knowledge and skills with them.. Nevertheless, don't be fooled. Technological networks, especially surveillance, is seriously flawed. China and the U.S. are much closer in their development and use of surveillance than we realize. The only difference is that the U.S. consciously tries to balance the use of surveillance with privacy issues for all its citizens, and China doesn't except for a privileged few. The flaws in the technology are glaring however, and we've got a long way to go before we can actually depend on algorithms to deliver the predictions that we seek.

This is one of those books that you begin reading and immediately think, 'Everyone needs to know this.'
The amount of research that went into this book is incredible. The book touches on many topics regarding surveillance in China. However, one chapter that I was particularly fond of was when they contrasted surveillance attitudes in Western democracies with China's authoritarian regime. It really makes you think about privacy. What is it? Why do we value it so much?

Another point to remember, is that this isn't a book about predictions. It is what has been happening and in place NOW. If I survey some of the people I see everyday, I'm betting a small percentage, when asked if they are aware of the atrocities in this book, would actually be aware of them happening right now in China.

I will be continually recommending this book whenever these topics arise! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for offering an ARC of this incredible book. These are 100% my thoughts.