The filtering system praised by British Prime Minister David Cameron is controlled by Huawei, a controversial Chinese company with alleged ties to that nation's government, BBC reports.
The 'Homesafe' system run by Huawei-subsidiary Talktalk, is part of a new plan requiring UK internet service providers to automatically block online pornography, and has been criticized as a huge violation of privacy. Especially when you need to actively contact your provider and tell them if you want the filter lifted.
The founder of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, is a former officer in China's People's Liberation Army. For nearly a decade, the company has been part of the UK telecommunications infrastructure — with BT as their largest client.
So far, there have been no concerns over the BT connection, but the new filter — with TalkTalk's filter sending web traffic to Huawei to check against their blacklist — raises some concerns. A recent report from the UK's Intelligence and Security Committee addressed some of them.
From the BBC (emphasis added):
The committee said "the alleged links between Huawei and the Chinese State are concerning, as they generate suspicion as to whether Huawei's intentions are strictly commercial or are more political" - but added that it had not found any evidence of wrongdoing.
It said it had worries that a UK-based testing centre set up to examine Huawei products was staffed by experts employed by the Chinese firm.
The ISC said Huawei was "effectively policing themselves".
In the US, intelligence committees have gone further, branding Huawei a threat to national security.
For its part, Huawei strongly denies having close ties with the Chinese government, pointing out it is majority owned by its employees. It welcomed the ISC's call for a review of the testing centre.
Cameron has maintained the filters are designed not to censor, but to protect children online.
"This is not censorship," he said in a recent interview. "This is not the government saying 'Right, here's what will be blocked.' This is the government working very hard at talking with all these companies, agreeing with them a new protocol."
Far from censorship concerns however, Cameron may be opening the UK up the prying eyes of the Chinese, as reports from the U.S. military have warned. A 2008 DoD report said that IT companies such as Huawei and others "maintain close ties to the PLA and collaborate on research and development."
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