About to break the law? Chinese cops are on to you with predictive policing

Rights group says 'predictive policing' platform combines feeds from surveillance cameras with personal information

Authorities in China’s troubled, heavily surveilled region of Xinjiang are deploying a platform that marshals the troves of data being collected to identify and pre-emptively detain potential troublemakers, according to a rights group.

Human Rights Watch said Tuesday the “predictive policing” platform combines feeds from surveillance cameras with other personal data such as phone use, travel records and religious orientation, and then analyzes the information to identify suspicious individuals.

China’s government has turned Xinjiang, a vast region on the border with Central Asia that thrums with ethnic tension, into a laboratory for cutting-edge surveillance and social control. High-definition cameras, security