The Chinese government has taken further steps to tighten control over citizens’ access to overseas websites by monitoring not only personal phones and home networks but also expanding surveillance to public places such as libraries, hotels, and shopping malls. According to a network engineer interviewed, Mr. Zhao, domestically produced routers and network auditing equipment can identify connected devices and some browsing records, advising people to try to avoid connecting to public Wi-Fi networks.
On July 21st, the Hunan Library issued a notice stating that readers who accessed the library’s public Wi-Fi and used software to bypass the “Great Firewall” to visit “illegal overseas websites” had their activities detected by technical systems and recorded by the cyberspace administration department. The library disclosed three sets of de-identified phone numbers and shut down all public Wi-Fi starting on the 22nd for security checks and system reinforcement.
Mr. Zhao revealed to reporters that the detection technology employed by the authorities has a history of over 10 years and is quite mature. Wi-Fi systems in places like hotels, cafes, and airports can detect the tools used for internet access and the content being browsed. He explained, “No matter if you are using a phone, tablet, or laptop to access the internet, it can all be detected. Recently, the Wi-Fi at the Hunan Library detected someone using a phone to bypass censorship, which is no longer considered high-tech. When using the internet in public places, the system can detect which websites you visit, even if you use a VPN.”
About 8 years ago, restaurants and cafes across China used to require customers using Wi-Fi to register their real names. At that time, routers did not have monitoring modules installed, unlike the present-day routers which have evolved significantly in terms of surveillance capabilities.
Mr. Zhao mentioned that domestically produced routers and public wireless network management devices commonly come with detection and auditing functions that can identify phones, tablets, and laptops, record the time of access, device information, and visited addresses. He noted that many households still use routers from a decade ago, some of which may lack monitoring modules, making them relatively more secure.
In China, many public places offer free Wi-Fi for people’s convenience, though in places like airports, the system may require users to provide their phone numbers to receive verification codes. Cybersecurity personnel informed reporters that even if users utilize anti-censorship tools, the network system can still detect devices connecting to foreign proxy servers.
They cautioned the public against connecting to public Wi-Fi networks at hotels, shopping malls, stations, airports, hospitals, and libraries, recommending people to use their own mobile data networks whenever possible, and avoid connecting to public Wi-Fi that does not require a password or requests phone number verification.
In 2019, the Public Security Department in Tibet mandated that all public wireless networks implement certification and auditing, requiring operators to register with the public security bureau, implement real-name authentication, internet behavior auditing, and log retention measures, and use equipment with security auditing functions. A year later, the Zhongshan police in Guangdong required public places offering wireless networks to verify users’ identities through methods like phone numbers, store network logs for at least 6 months, and install internet auditing equipment with networking interfaces. These regulations cover establishments such as hotels, rental properties, restaurants, malls, hospitals, libraries, airports, stations, subways, and scenic areas.
An anonymous Mainland Chinese scholar named Lu Fang expressed concerns that in recent years, besides internet monitoring, mobile phone surveillance has become more direct, alleging that domestically produced phones contain backdoors that can even eavesdrop on conversations. Some claim that these phones can categorize speech content and share it with businesses for advertising purposes or even alert the police in case of negative remarks about authorities. Lu Fang highlighted that people have started criticizing the authorities using sarcasm, for which the authorities have yet to find an effective response.
An analysis article published on April 20 by Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Studies pointed out that the Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown on circumventing the Great Firewall has shifted from addressing sporadic violations and blocking of virtual private network providers to being led by the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, enforcing direct monitoring and punishment of users attempting to access blocked content.