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SCOOP: The Oracle TikTok deal was supposed to prevent TikTok from passing data to Chinese police. Turns out Oracle has been marketing its own data analytics software to...Chinese police.
a.k.a. the weirdest China tech story I’ve ever written 1/1 https://theintercept.com/2021/02/18/oracle-china-police-surveillance/
a.k.a. the weirdest China tech story I’ve ever written 1/1 https://theintercept.com/2021/02/18/oracle-china-police-surveillance/
I found dozens of Oracle documents detailing how Chinese police can use the company's analytics software to mine databases containing DNA, vehicle records, facial recognition images, hotel registrations, and lists of drug users. 2/2
Oracle documents give detailed "use cases" that include screenshots of the software interface, suggesting that two provincial police departments (Liaoning and Shanxi) actually used Oracle tech to mine social and other data. One such case was presented at Oracle’s HQ in 2018. 3/3
Oracle has accused me of obtaining “Chinese domain” documents from one of their competitors, so let me be clear on where I found these documents: http://Oracle.com , using a little search engine called Google. 4/4 https://theintercept.com/2021/02/18/oracle-china-police-surveillance/
Different employees authored the Oracle documents, but some are the work of a former Singaporean cop turned Oracle senior employee. For two years while at the company, his bios say that he was a visiting researcher at China’s leading policing academy. 5/5
Oracle says company slide decks on its software's use by Chinese police are "theoretical." But a former Oracle senior director told me that a presentation he gave at Oracle OpenWorld in 2017 described an actual Chinese police department using Oracle software. 6/6
Oracle marketing decks tick off Chinese government surveillance efforts exposed by @wang_maya and others. They say Oracle’s tech was used for the Golden projects. They pitch Oracle for Police Cloud. They mention data security work in Xinjiang, and also with Huawei and ZTE. 7/7
Oracle conceded to me that they had “limited authorized transactions with Xinjiang Public Security Bureau from 2011-2019," which @dtbyler pointed out means they were there for over a year following widespread global awareness of the camps. 8/8 https://theintercept.com/2021/02/18/oracle-china-police-surveillance/
Oracle’s site hosts presentations apparently oriented at Chinese military audiences. They are chock full of PLA-speak, as @elsakania noted after reviewing a few. 9/9
Oracle has marketed its software for police use in not just China but also Mexico, Pakistan, Turkey, and the UAE. In Brazil, @tatikmd found contracts between Oracle and Rio's notoriously corrupt Civil Police for data analytics software. 10/10
Oracle's efforts with Chinese authorities are a bad look for a company that is seen as very close to DoD and U.S. intelligence agencies, as @_jack_poulson pointed out. Co-founder Larry Ellison once claimed, "I'm on Team USA." 11/11 https://theintercept.com/2021/02/18/oracle-china-police-surveillance/
We linked to many of the Oracle documents (and archived them in case links go dead) but there are dozens more. Scholars and other experts: feel free to get in touch if you're looking for something specific. Details in next tweet. 12/12
If you have worked with Oracle or have details about how its products are used in China or in security applications, ping me on Signal at +1 651-400-7987 or write me securely at marahv at protonmail 13/13
