Data Wars: China, Cyber Espionage, and the Global Surveillance Economy
In the 21st century, wars aren't just fought with missiles and tanks—they're waged with data. The line between espionage, surveillance, and corporate data harvesting has blurred beyond recognition. The U.S. and China, as two of the most powerful digital states, are at the center of this clash. But citizens—especially in democracies—are left exposed to vulnerabilities from both state and non-state actors. Let's explore the scope of this digital battleground.
China’s Cyber Espionage: Beyond Industrial Theft
China’s cyber strategy is multifaceted. While corporate and industrial espionage is well-documented—targeting sectors like aerospace, semiconductors, and biotechnology—Beijing’s surveillance state also reaches deeply into profiling individuals across borders.
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Targeting Individuals: Chinese cyber units are known to hack personal data from government databases, educational institutions, healthcare systems, and social networks in the U.S. The 2015 OPM breach compromised data on over 21 million U.S. federal employees and contractors—an unprecedented blow.
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Profiling and Influence: The aim is to build long-term psychological, political, and behavioral profiles. This can enable influence operations, blackmail, recruitment of assets, or social destabilization. Chinese apps and platforms, including TikTok, are accused of harvesting data that could potentially feed such profiling systems.
Digital Propaganda on Social Media
The Chinese government spends an estimated billions of dollars annually on information operations, with a portion focused on social media influence campaigns. These efforts are aimed at reshaping global narratives around Taiwan, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and China's global rise.
Platforms like YouTube, Twitter (X), Facebook, and TikTok have been hosts—wittingly or not—to bot networks, troll farms, and fake accounts that promote pro-China content or sow discord within U.S. society.
How Many Americans Are Profiled—and Why?
It’s impossible to know the exact number, but it’s safe to assume that tens of millions of U.S. citizens have been included in foreign data sets. The objectives range from:
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Long-term intelligence gathering
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Blackmail potential
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Voter influence and manipulation
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Military recruitment insight
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Academic, technological, and diplomatic targeting
China’s Cyber Army vs Global Cybercrime Networks
China’s state-backed cyber force—reportedly over 100,000 strong—includes military, civilian contractors, and elite hacker groups like APT10 and APT41. But they’re not alone.
Globally, cyber scam groups from Russia, Nigeria, North Korea, and Eastern Europe also target U.S. citizens. These actors may not be political—but they are parasitic. Romance scams, IRS impersonation, tech support scams—these ploys steal billions annually.
Seniors: The Prime Targets
Seniors are especially vulnerable. Why?
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Less familiarity with digital tools
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More trusting behavior online
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More likely to have savings or fixed income
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Often socially isolated
The results: financial loss, identity theft, and emotional devastation.
The Next Wave: 5G, 6G, and Total Profiling
With 5G and eventually 6G, the amount of data collected per person will explode—real-time biometrics, location patterns, smart home behaviors, even neural interfaces. Profiling will no longer be retroactive—it will be predictive.
Governments and companies could know what you’re going to do before you do it. And this applies globally.
What Can Be Done?
For Individuals:
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Use encrypted communications
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Regularly update software and devices
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Limit app permissions and delete unused accounts
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Educate yourself and older loved ones about scams
For Governments:
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Create cyber alliances akin to NATO—international cooperation against hostile state actors
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Sanction and prosecute foreign cyber criminals
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Promote privacy-first digital regulations and ethical AI standards
For Big Tech:
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Move beyond self-regulation
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Introduce global data justice frameworks
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Compensate users in the Global South for data harvested
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Embrace transparency in algorithmic design and content moderation
Is the U.S. Guilty Too? The Capitalist Surveillance State
Yes, and uncomfortably so. Google, Meta, Amazon, and others have turned data into the most valuable commodity on Earth. These companies often operate with little oversight, harvesting data in the Global South to train AI models, target ads, and sell insights—without meaningful compensation or ethical review.
This "data imperialism" risks creating a digital feudal system—where the richest nations and companies reap all the rewards, while the developing world becomes a data plantation.
Conclusion: A Fork in the Road
We’re at an inflection point. As technology races forward, societies must choose between surveillance capitalism and digital democracy. Between geopolitical weaponization of data and cross-border collaboration for privacy, fairness, and truth.
If left unchecked, the tools meant to empower humanity may instead enslave it. The battle for the soul of the internet—and the dignity of individual privacy—has only just begun.
