CHINA WATCHChina’s Extensive Use of Genetic Information Sounds a Warning

By Yvonne Lau

Published 3 October 2022

As China increasingly relies on biometric data collection for public and national security purposes, it is time for democracies to address its role in their systems.

“Do not miss a single family in each village, do not miss a single man in each family” (村不漏姓,姓不漏人). This is the aim of the China-wide male family screening system project (男性家族排查系统项目), according to official government documents from Gansu province obtained by the New York Times. As China increasingly relies on biometric data collection for public and national security purposes, it is time for democracies to address its role in their systems.

Under Secretary General Xi Jinping, China has been steadily expanding the surveillance of its citizens through new biometric technologies. The government’s identification of genetic resources as a national security asset has reinforced the domestic surveillance apparatus. It has also boosted China’s defense and biomedical research and, perhaps unintentionally, strengthened the protection of its citizens’ data against access by foreign powers.

In contrast, the limited discussion in democracies on genetic and biometric data, and the profound risks and opportunities it presents, poses a national security risk. The low vigilance of foreign access to genetic data creates privacy and security concerns and potentially facilitates ethically questionable research by external actors. China has recognized this lack of caution and foresight and is already working to maximize the information and capability advantage it holds.

China is known for using biometric technology to expand its surveillance and security apparatus. Apart from an increase in the number of provinces establishing male DNA databases, little has changed in the scale of the data collection since ASPI’s Genomic surveillance report in 2020, which estimated that DNA samples had been collected from 5–10 percent of the country’s male population. What has changed is the sophistication and strategic thinking behind this program. The documents obtained by the New York Times explain that government purchases of advanced bio-surveillance technologies are for the management and control of the people (对人员的管控) and to realize the comprehensive collection (全面采集) of samples. The work is often conducted in the name of social stability and crime fighting, but there’s no evidence to suggest that the men targeted for collection are criminal suspects.