The feature on the secret prototype, Dragonfly, would put Chinese citizens at increased risk of government repression

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Google’s secret prototype search engine for China reportedly links users’ mobile phone numbers to what search terms they’ve used.

This feature would allow the Chinese government to simply associate searches with individuals, thereby putting Chinese citizens at increased risk of government repression if they search for topics that their government deems politically sensitive, according to the Intercept.

The mobile-focused search engine prototype, code-named Dragonfly, was first revealed last month by the Intercept.

Dragonfly is said to have been conceptualized as a joint venture between Google and a Chinese-based company. Both would have the ability to update a list of verboten search words, which could include expected subjects like “human rights” and “student protest” but could also extend to search terms such as “Nobel Prize”, according to the Intercept’s story.

News outlets and information platforms like the BBC and Wikipedia will also be blocked, according to the Intercept, as will searches extending beyond text, such as images.

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The move comes amid what Human Rights Watch refers to as a “broad and sustained offensive on human rights” under the Chinese president Xi Jinping since he assumed office in late 2012.

A June 2017 cybersecurity law placed additional restrictions on internet freedom, including bans on disseminating news without a permit on social media.

And Apple removed over 600 apps from the App Store, including VPNs that were used to circumvent websites blocked by the government, according to the nonpartisan US thinktank Freedom House, which rates China as 14 out of 100, 100 being most free.

Under Jinping, China has advocated “cyber sovereignty”, which pushes for countries to maintain control over how its population uses the internet within its borders. This policy is in opposition to the open, free internet most often supported by democratic nations through initiatives like the Freedom Online Coalition.

Once heralded as an exemplar of corporate bravery for resisting Chinese attempts to censor searches in 2010 Google is now facing heavy criticism, including internally.

Several Google employees have quit in reaction to the project and about 1,400 employees signed an internal letter pushing for more information from Google about the company’s return to China.

These developments come in the wake of revelations earlier this year regarding Google’s work for the US Department of Defense, called Project Maven, which developed artificial intelligence to improve collection and analysis of drone imagery.

That contract was not renewed by Google following a similar mix of resignations and pressure from the company’s employees.

In a statement from a Google spokesperson, Google says that any reports about a new search engine in China are premature.

“We’ve been investing for many years to help Chinese users, from developing Android, through mobile apps such as Google Translate and Files Go, and our developer tools. But our work on search has been exploratory, and we are not close to launching a search product in China.”

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At a company meeting in August, Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly made similar statements, according to people familiar with the discussion who spoke to Bloomberg.

As in many industries, China represents a tantalizing market for Google as the nation has 802 million internet users according to CNNIC, which is far more than double the combined number of internet users in the United States and United Kingdom.

Since Project Dragonfly became public, Google has not released further details, prompting an open letter from 14 human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, pressing for further details and commitments from Google to “safeguard against human rights violations”.

Expressing a mix of disappointment and disgust at reports about Dragonfly, Sophie Richardson, the China director at Human Rights Watch, said she was distressed to see Google not only walk away from what she called a “principled approach” in 2010 but now “snuggle right up” to the Chinese government.

“[Google] should be insisting on the highest possible standards,” she said, instead of helping the Chinese government to build a better “mouse trap”.

“[Google] can afford to fight the good, principled fight,” Richardson said.