The Guardian

How Chinese spy app allows officials to harvest personal data

Intrusive software collects emails and texts and could be used to track movement
The surveillance app is installed on devices at the Chinese border and was discovered when officials failed to remove it from some tourists’ phones afterwards. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

The tourists travelling into China were never supposed to know their phones had been compromised.

The surveillance app being installed on their devices should have been removed by the border officers tasked with the job. But their apparent carelessness has provided a rare insight into the techniques used by China to snoop on visitors and the kind of

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