A new report reveals that China’s surveillance network isn’t limited to 1.4 billion people, but foreigners living there are also under watch. Marc Hofer, who worked there as a foreign correspondent, spent most of his time online researching how China watches its own people through an enormous web of phone signals, cameras, and national identity records.
But earlier this year, his world was turned upside down when he found his own photo on an obscure website alongside his passport number and a phone number that he had once used while living in China. The site called itself the “Dynamic Control Platform for Overseas Personnel.” Hofer told The New York Times that the system reminded him of the sci-fi film “Minority Report,” with screens tracking foreigners’ movement in Zhangjiakou, a northern Chinese city popular for skiing and sharing hosting duties at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
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How does China spy on foreigners?
Hofer further stated that the tool contained records of more than 700 foreigners living in China and nearly 12,000 entries altogether. The names on the site were those of wanted individuals, people from Hong Kong and Taiwan, and over 300 foreign journalists, some of whom had never visited Zhangjiakou. He was stunned after realizing that the system had access to genuine information about foreigners. He also found a record of recent logins showing several police stations located across Zhangjiakou and beyond.
Hofer quickly ruled out any possibility that this was some kind of student project or a demo built by hobbyists. After discovering what he had found, he spent that January day collecting as much data as he could. By May, the entire website had disappeared.
link between the site and Beijing company
NYT found links between the site and a Beijing company called Origin Dynamic, which reportedly sells robotics and surveillance equipment to police departments, based on publicly available tender records. In 2023, the same firm had filed a patent for an almost identical system, calling it an “information interface” for foreign citizens in the paperwork. Part of the firm is owned by local govt officials in Yancheng city.
Whether the cops actually use this database remains unclear. However, its very existence points to something dangerous. Chinese authorities can track people’s lives through cameras, hospital records, payment records, and facial-scanning software.
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Anyone stumbling onto the login screen, like Hofer, can find a database packed with personal information of thousands of people, with almost no protection standing in the way. Parts of it were incomplete as well, containing blank fields or sample text scattered throughout.
The platform relied on external data
Furthermore, cameras were not the sole source behind the platform. It relied on external data, including a roster of foreign and Chinese individuals who visited the nearby Thaiwoo Ski Resort, complete with names, photos, and passport details.
The system sorted people from the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Britain into one group it identified as the “Five Eyes Alliance,” borrowing the name of the intelligence-sharing arrangement among those nations, one that China often describes as an outdated Cold War hangover.
Separately, it categorised individuals from a group of nations it called “key countries,” a list that included Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Pakistan, and Sudan.
A good number of the foreign students from India and Pakistan were enrolled at Hebei North University in Zhangjiakou. Their documents went well beyond basic details, identifying their religion, marital status, and the exact moments when cameras caught them entering the campus.
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First published on: Aug 04, 2026 12:47 AM IST
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Sheetal Prasad
Sheetal Prasad is a news author with 1.5 years of experience in journalism. She covers a diverse range of topics, including politics, entertainment, and trending news, ensuring her readers stay informed about the latest developments. Sheetal holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from Adamas University, West Bengal, which has equipped her with essential storytelling skills. Previously, she worked as a news journalist at Odisha TV.
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