China will log 'keyboard clicking' to rein in the internet

Keyboard monitoring and other methods of keeping tabs on computer users is allowed when it comes to fighting banned web activities, according to a Chinese official.

A report on China's internet policy in the official People's Daily has said that the state is "trying to erect a national boundary to rein in the internet", to limit the inflow of information harmful to national security.

To this end, the newly-formed state cyber-police will use methods such as "observing keyboard clicking", said the report.

The report did not mention how this will be done but software that logs user keystrokes - called key loggers - is freely available on the internet. When installed on a computer, it creates a text file of each key tapped.

Yu Ning, an official from Jilin University, based in Heilongjiang province, is quoted as saying that such a method "simply functions against wrongdoing".

"The privacy of common people is totally out of said scope," said the People's Daily, referring to the fact that such broad-reaching surveillance methods should not worry the law-abiding.

Statistics from a government body, the China Network Information Center, show that in late 2002, there were 59.1 million internet users across the country.

The report went on to paint a dismal picture of net security in the nation: More than 80 per cent of all PCs there have suffered from viruses or hackers, causing a loss of more than 10bn yuan ($1.2bn) every year.

In addition to banning financial scams, pornography and subversion, the Chinese government has enacted a thicket of laws to stop web users from propagating the ideology of cult groups such as the Falungong.

CNET Asia staff