Does China monitor even Hungarian public figures?

A database was leaked on the Internet containing the data of 2.4 million people in the world, including 710 Hungarians.

According to Szabad Europa, experts say that this database is the first direct proof that China monitors citizens not only in their country but also abroad. The database includes data about 2.4 million people and 650 thousand organisations, and they built it using 2.3 billion articles and 2.1 billion social media posts. Thus, the size of the written files is 1 terabyte. Some experts say that

it is a minor part of China’s hybrid warfare.

Shenzhen Zhenhua Data Information Technology started the work in 2017, continuously updating their information ever since. People being listed are all decision-makers or men and women who influence decision-makers and public opinion. Interestingly, the files were broken, so experts could restore only 10 pc of them. That contains 250 thousand people, 52 thousand American, 35 thousand Australian, 17 thousand Spanish, 10-10 thousand Indian and British, and 5,000 Canadian citizens.

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The list contains 710 Hungarians: most of them are politicians, company CEOs, military officers, and journalists. However, the total number can be higher since experts could restore only a fraction of the original database. Szabad Europa stated that

they would come forth with the Hungarian names in a follow-up article.

Among the foreign names, there is British PM Boris Johnson, Australian PM Scott Morris, and Indian PM Narendra Modi with their families, ministers from a lot of countries, even members of the British royal family. The lists contain not only politicians but also researchers in economic segments important for China, high-rank military officers, software developers, company CEOs, and even convicted criminals.

An American professor, Christopher Balding, received the database. He worked at the University of Beijing until 2018 when he left because he did not feel safe in the country. He gave it to Internet 2.0, an Australian cybersecurity company, for analysis. Based on their results,

80 pc of the data are from the Internet,

from articles and social media posts (Factiva, Crunchbase, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok). Since then, Facebook has ordered Shenzen Zhenhua Data Technology to erase all the data they collected.

Experts say that 20 pc pf the database’s information comes from hackers, information brokers, and offline sources. They added that China’s aim is to acquire information about each country’s human resources profile, financial and healthcare trends and  weaknesses. The database has a lot of information about how news spreads on social media and how we can find the biggest influencers of a country. Furthermore, the photos can help to

make deepfake videos.

Source: szabadeuropa.hu