[xja]

Pretty terrifying. I'd love to see a more detailed analysis of the datasets they received. It sounds like both governmental and private surveillance systems in China may be pretty leaky.

I wonder if the information is leaked through hacks or compromised individuals.

[electic]

The article says they are through the government. This includes immigration records, telecom GPS information, financial transactions, etc. Most of it is not coming through social media sites.

[maxander]

The government collects and organizes the data, but presumably there's no Chinese government website offering citizens access to this database. Who exfiltrates the data and sells it?

Corrupt officials is an obvious answer. Or hackers- given all the terrifying hacks of U.S. government databases that are reported, its likely as not Chinese databases are just as vulnerable, and they're much less likely to inform the public of breaches.

In either event, its potentially an example of China's government stability efforts coming around to bite them- how many incriminating details of government officials are tucked away in this database, for sale to the highest bidder?

[res0nat0r]

This is a good video about the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHcTKWiZ8sI