China is experimenting with a new Internet “tool”: the Human Flesh Search Engine (HFSE) is a “search engine” run by human power where thousands of volunteer cybervigilantes unite to expose the personal details of perceived wrongdoers and publish them online.

Some Chinese netizens have already experienced the transition from anonymous Internet user to national hate figure: the “Kitten Killer of Hangzhou” (aka Wang Jue) uploaded a video of herself crushing a small cat to death under her high heels. She was identified by Chinese netizens who recognized the backdrop to the video and traced the shoes back to a purchase made on eBay.

The Chinese courts are now involved as well: an advertising executive (Wang Fei) who fell victim to HFSE after his wife’s suicide is suing two leading Internet portals that hosted the hunt for his identity as well as an individual for defamation and violating his privacy. In December a Beijing court ruled that Wang Fei’s reputation had been damaged both by the person who posted diary excerpts online and by the internet company that hosted the comments.

The phenomena is even reaching government spheres:  China’s transport ministry fired an official for manhandling an 11-year-old girl at a local restaurant, after Internet users posted images and his personal details online.

While initially challenged by alternative technologies such as fibre optics, satellite communications in China is actually finding a market to leverage its unique features (wide coverage and rapid deployment): the rural communities.

China DBSat, operating a fleet of five in-orbit satellites, is providing communication and backup to public telephone networks in some of China’s remotest areas. By applying cellular backhaul technology, satellite companies are also able to help mobile operators to extend the reach of their networks. In 2007, access to 70% of the 20000 villages was achieved via satellites, thus playing an active role in increasing universal service.

The next step? Providing broadband services to rural communities who would have had to wait a decade or so till fiber optics reaches them!

If something is to be remembered from the World Economic Forum 2008 edition it is probably the very candid comment made by the Wang Jianzhou, the CEO of the world’s largest mobile phone operator.

“We know who you are, but also where you are” was actually meant to convince the audience that China Mobile could use the personal data of its customers to sell advertising and services to them based on knowledge of where they were and what they were doing. Instead it turned into worries about the risk of passing over private information to  Chinese authorities: with more than 370 million subscribers, China Mobile has a real-time ear and eye on 25% of the country’s citizens.

The outcry of congressman Markey (chairman of the US House of Representatives subcommittee on telecommunications) was even more surprising since most national security agencies have so-called signals intelligence collection and analysis networks (like Echelon or Onyx). That said most countries are supposed to have checks and controls in place to make sure that only court orders allow the government to check phone records.

Maybe time has come to look into more details at how the mobile phone is becoming a threat to privacy in all countries!

P.S.: It is quite revealing that the two operators invited to the World Economic Forum’s discussion on “The Future of Mobile Technology” were China Mobile and SK Telecom