July 17, 2019

U.S. tech giants collaborate with Chinese surveillance company

topic:	Technology
located:	USA, China
editor:	Yair Oded

Last week, The Intercept reported it had discovered a connection between Western tech giants, such as Google and IBM, and a Chinese company called Semptian, which develops and sells surveillance devices to security agencies of oppressive governments. 

Back in 2015, the Shenzhen-based Semptian was admitted as a member of the OnePower Foundation – a not-for-profit organisation established by Google and IBM executives in order to 'drive innovation'. There, Semptian had teamed up with American chip-manufacturer Xilinx and IBM in order to develop microprocessors that would accelerate computers' ability to analyse large amounts of data. 

An undercover reporter who posed as a potential customer had managed to gain insight into the company’s dealings, securing a first-hand testimony by one of its employees, and obtaining documents that reveal the scope and character of Semptian’s surveillance products. 

It appears that Semptian runs the majority of its operations via a front-company called iNext. Through iNext, Semptian sells the surveillance software and products it develops in conjunction with OnePower Foundation to security agencies and governments across the globe. 

Semptian’s flagship surveillance system, Aegis, enables its user to store an unlimited amount of data. It has thus far been used to tap phone calls, collect email, phone, and text message records, access browsing histories, block access to content on the internet, and locate cell phones. 

Naturally, one of Semptian’s primary clients is the Chinese government, which, according to The Intercept’s investigation, has been using its technology to monitor and crackdown on dissidents, journalists, and anyone who is perceived to promote ideals of freedom of speech, reporting and democracy. According to The Intercept’s source, Aegis is currently being used by the Chinese government to monitor the activity (both virtual and physical) of roughly 200 million people. 

Semptian has also been reported to export its surveillance technologies to oppressive regimes throughout the Middle East and North Africa, where brutal crackdowns on journalists and human rights activists often result in torture, arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention under inhumane conditions, and murder. Among these countries are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Sudan, and Egypt. 

Semptian, Google, and Xilinx refused to make a comment after being approached by The Intercept. IBM denied any type of collaboration with Semptian, and OnePower Foundation stated that owing to antitrust and competition laws, the company “does not become involved, or seek to be informed, about the individual business strategies, goals or activities of its members.”

The shirking of responsibility by Western tech giants regarding their collaboration with the Chinese surveillance state is outrageous. By bolstering Semptian’s technological capabilities, such companies actively participate in the violation of human rights across the globe. By refusing to acknowledge the application of such technology, they turn a blind eye to the oppression and tyranny they abet.   

It might be naive to expect companies of this scale to be concerned with anything other than profit. Yet making the public aware of their actions would arguably be the first step toward holding these corporations accountable. 

Image: Zach Stern, flickr