China Unicom one of China’s largest state-run telecommunications firms has systems in place to listen in on phone calls and track the locations of its users. The findings were posted on Jan. 8 by a user nicknamed “Bystander Jia” to WooYun.org,—a website where security researchers report vulnerabilities and vendors give feedback.
State-run China Unicom telecommunications is the world’s third largest mobile provider. The company’s alleged spy system allows it to access phone calls and SMS text messaging logs of any user, as well as track the users locations, and find their registered social media accounts.
In order to spy on its users, China Unicom would only need the targeted user’s cellphone number, according to the post from Bystander Jia. The system can also track email accounts registered with the cellphone, as well as technical information on the phone itself including its IMEI number and model.
