Institution File
Ministry of Public Security and the National Police Data System
Connects identity administration, public order, criminal investigation, cybersecurity, borders, and public video systems.
Contents
Formal position
The MPS leads national policing, while local police handle public order, criminal investigation, cybersecurity, household registration, traffic, and borders. Multiple operational systems create extensive identity and behavior data.
Authority and tools
Tools include population and identity databases, police platforms, public video, cyber enforcement, device search, lodging and vehicle records, and cross-regional requests.
Interfaces with other bodies
Cyberspace regulators, telecoms, transport, hotels, platforms, and communities provide data or execution interfaces, while procuratorates and courts handle criminal cases.
Power logic
Police data systems turn dispersed registration into searchable relations and trajectories, extending policing from event investigation to risk screening and preemption.
Evidence limits
National laws and regulations provide some rules, but database linkage, alert models, access logs, and personal correction routes remain only partly public. [1] [2]
Sources
- Regulation on Public Security Video Image Information Systemsprimary-record
- MPS Rules for Public Security Video Information Systemsprimary-record
- Personal Information Protection Law of the PRCprimary-record
- Data Security Law of the PRCprimary-record
- Provisions on the Administration of Internet User Account Informationprimary-record
- Provisions on Algorithmic Recommendation in Internet Information Servicesprimary-record
- China's Algorithms of Repression: Reverse Engineering a Xinjiang Police Apptechnical-research
- We Chat, They Watchtechnical-research
- Censored Contagion IItechnical-research
- OHCHR Assessment of Human Rights Concerns in Xinjianggovernment-report
- Treasury Sanctions on Biometric Surveillance Technologyofficial-finding
- 2024 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Chinagovernment-report
- Official Accountability Record on the Henan Red-Code Incidentprimary-record
- Investigation into Red Health Codes Assigned to Henan Bank Depositorsinvestigative-reporting
- CECC 2025 Annual Reportgovernment-report
- Human Rights Watch Report on Detained White Paper Protestersinvestigative-reporting
- Amnesty International Interviews One Year after the White Paper Movementinvestigative-reporting