The Chinese communist regime is expanding internet surveillance on public Wi-Fi in places such as libraries, hotels, and shopping malls. Chinese made routers can identify connected devices and track certain access records, an insider warned, advising the public to avoid connecting to free Wi-Fi networks in public spaces in China.
The Hunan Library, a provincial public library in central China, issued an announcement on July 21 stating that some readers used circumvention software to access “overseas illegal websites” after connecting to the public Wi-Fi in the library. The behavior was discovered by the technical system and recorded by the Chinese regime’s cyberspace department. The library announced that it would shut down the public Wi-Fi throughout the library starting from July 22 to conduct security checks and system reinforcement.
Zhao, a Chinese network engineer familiar with the Chinese regime’s internet control methods, told The Epoch Times that Wi-Fi systems in public places—such as hotels, coffee shops, and airports—can detect the devices users employ to access the internet, as well as the content they browse.
Authorities have been using this detection technology for more than a decade, and the operational procedures are quite mature, according to Zhao, who gave only his surname out of fear of reprisal.
“About eight years ago, restaurants and cafes across mainland China required customers using their public Wi-Fis to register with their real names. At that time, routers were not yet equipped with surveillance modules—a far cry from the capabilities of today’s routers,” he told The Epoch Times.
Chinese-made routers and public wireless network management equipment generally have detection and audit functions, which can identify mobile phones, tablets, and laptops and record access time, device information, and access addresses, Zhao said.
“The system can detect whatever device you use to connect to public Wi-Fi to go online—whether it’s a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. Recently, the Hunan Library’s Wi-Fi system detected mobile phones being used to bypass internet censorship—something that is no longer considered high-tech. When you go online in public places, the system can track which websites you visit; it can detect this even if you are using a VPN,” he said.
Zhao noted that many Chinese households are still using routers from a decade ago.
“Some older routers do not have monitoring modules, so they are relatively safer,” he said.
Many public places in China currently offer free Wi-Fi. However, in large venues such as airports, the Wi-Fi system requires a mobile phone number to receive a verification code to connect.
Zhao advised the public to use their own mobile data networks whenever possible in places such as hotels, shopping malls, stations, airports, hospitals, and libraries or to avoid connecting to public Wi-Fi networks that do not require a password or that ask for mobile number verification.
A man checks his phone while resting in a shopping mall in Beijing on July 18, 2023. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images
Tightened Control
In recent years, the Chinese regime has put out more internet surveillance measures and restrictions to further encroach on the Chinese public’s internet freedom.
In 2019, Chinese public security authorities in Tibet mandated that all public Wi-Fi networks undergo authentication and monitoring; operators were required to register with the Public Security Bureau and implement measures, such as real-name authentication, monitoring of online activity, and log retention, while also utilizing equipment capable of security auditing.
In the following year, police in Zhongshan in Guangdong Province required public venues offering Wi-Fi to verify user identities—such as through mobile phone numbers—retain network logs for at least six months, and install network-connected monitoring equipment. These regulations applied to hotels, rental properties, restaurants, shopping malls, hospitals, libraries, airports, transport stations, subways, and tourist attractions.
China, under the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) rule, had an internet freedom score of nine out of 100 in the year of 2025, which means “Not Free,” according to the ranking from Freedom House, a nonprofit democracy advocacy organization based in Washington. The Chinese regime uses The Great Firewall–a massive system of filters and blocks that keeps global websites and foreign social media out of the country; strict censorship to rapid removal of online posts about sensitive history, politics, or criticism of the CCP; and heavy surveillance to constantly track user activity, leading to real-world arrests and fines for sharing banned content or using unauthorized VPNs, according to the Freedom House report.
Wu Ting contributed to this report.
