China’s big data offensive exposed

The TLDR: A Chinese company with links to Beijing's military and intelligence networks has been amassing a vast database of detailed personal information on millions of people around the world. The leaked information shows that at least 10,000 Indians were targeted by Zhenhua Data—ranging from the President and Prime Minister to military chiefs and even celebrities. The professor who leaked it claims that the evidence reveals China’s ambition to create a “global authoritarian techno surveillance state.”

What’s this database?

The company: Zhenhua Data is based in Shenzhen, China—and its primary clients are the People’s Liberation Army and the Chinese Communist Party. Established in 2018, it is part of the China Zhenhua Electronics Group—which in turn is controlled by state-owned China Electronic Information Industry Group (CETC), a military research company. Zhenhua CEO Wang Xuefeng is a former IBM employee who previously advocated waging "hybrid warfare" through manipulation of public opinion and "psychological warfare” on WeChat.

The database: Zhenhua’s core business is something called the Overseas Key Information Database, or OKIDB. It uses artificial intelligence to scrape and analyse personal data of millions of people around the world.

Tell me about the Indians in this database

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