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Chinese police are using a new anti-fraud app installed on more than 200m mobile phones to identify and question people who have viewed overseas financial news sites, according to individuals summoned by the authorities. The app was launched in March by the public security ministry’s National Anti-Fraud Centre and blocks suspicious phone calls and reports malware. Police said it was needed to combat a surge in fraud, often perpetrated by overseas operations managed by Chinese and Taiwan nationals. The ministry recommended that the app was downloaded but numerous local government agencies made it mandatory for their employees and individuals with whom they work, such as students and tenants. One Shanghai-based user told the Financial Times he was contacted by police after accessing a US financial news service. He was also asked whether he had contacts abroad and regularly visited overseas websites. The user, who asked not to be identified, said police seemed genuinely concerned about foreign scams. “But the questions they raised about whether I have contacted foreigners made me feel like they don’t want me accessing foreign websites,” he added. “I deleted the app after the meeting.”Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found here.
https://www.ft.com/content/84b6b889-ae03-47f7-9cd0-bd604b21d5de

A second user in eastern Shandong province said police called him on four consecutive days after the app showed he had visited what it labelled “highly dangerous” overseas information providers, including Bloomberg. “They said they would remove the ‘dangerous’ label on Bloomberg but nothing happened,” the user said. “The authorities also don’t disclose how they determine whether an overseas website is fraud-related.” The app has also generated thousands of privacy-related complaints online from people who said they had to download it in order to rent apartments or enrol their children in schools. A dozen individuals told the FT they were uncomfortable giving the app 29 permissions, including live-monitoring of call logs, text messages and conversations, in order to install it on their phones. “I am not going to give the authorities access to every aspect of my life in order to fend off scams,” said a Shanghai-based marketing manager who has ignored multiple requests to install the app. Parents from across the country said they had to download the app before they were allowed to enrol their children in school. In Shenzhen, some tenants have been required to install it before signing rental leases.