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Never had any issues. Noone cared about my camera while I was there. And I created like 5K photos there. Not that I ever use GPS, because it eats away your batt

Never had any issues. Noone cared about my camera while I was there. And I created like 5K photos there. Not that I ever use GPS, because it eats away your batter, but noone really cared about it.

nirui 2y ago
If my memory is still correct, in China camera products must have their GPS module removed/disabled before they're licensed for sale. Since these products looked the same from the outside, and are commonly used by everyone who wants to, nobody will bother to check every single one. Unless of course, if the camera gets too close to (say) a military/civil defense installation (often includes their office buildings), their security will probably do a check or just ask people to leave. They usually setup a sign near by to indicate "No trespassing" and maybe "No photographing" etc, just don't bring the camera over the line (I mean, better stay out completely if it says "No trespassing").
- ammo1662 2y ago
  Most of the cameras do not have GPS module. And for some cameras like Canon 5D Mark IV [1], or 6D Mark II [2], they do have GPS even for Chinese market. However, for the Camera which have GPS module, you will need additional filing to license your product. So some of the companies just hide the feature. Clearly it is not "must have GPS removed". [1] https://www.canon.com.cn/product/5dmk4/spec.html https://www.canon.com.cn/product/5dmk4/spec.html [2] https://www.canon.com.cn/product/6dmk2/spec.html https://www.canon.com.cn/product/6dmk2/spec.html
  - nirui 2y ago
    That was completely from my memory, and I don't work in the industry, so my information/interpretation maybe inaccurate. Thanks for the additional info.
Kadin 2y ago
In many products, there are different firmware or software loads for the PRC market (specifically PRC -- until recently not the HK versions) and the rest of the world. In some devices it's possible to lock satellite positioning to only Chinese constellation (BeiDou), or introduce error, or just not include positioning by default. Of course, some of those devices get through, or are carried in by tourists, or are enabled by enthusiasts who load the non-China firmware. This seems to be understood. The Chinese are smart enough, one presumes, to know that actual state-level competitors can get accurate (in the chosen geodetic system) location data without relying on tourists' geotagged Google Photos uploads. But that does lead to the question, "why, then?" -- if your adversaries know your secret, it's probably not worth the effort of protecting, anymore. (And why, in the US, we know about stuff like VENONA now.) The Chinese seem focused on a different threat: they don't care if a few people have good location data, even if some of them work for the US NGA, they just don't want everyone to have that data. Which is interesting, because it suggests that that they're less concerned about a foreign government with strategic intelligence, than they are their own domestic population. This isn't about state secrets vs other states; it's about denying their own population a capability that they find valuable, and thus threatening.
- petre 2y ago
  It's the commie way of "fixing" things to deter "enemies of the state": eastern radio bands, inaccurate maps, neighbour spy networks, serveral people on a landline so somebody can always listen, listening rooms for secret police inside state companies, heavily wiretaping citizens, continous party propaganda etc. Most of it is bs and it doesn't work or it's easy to circumvent, but one can never be too careful.
rvba 2y ago
Those laws are there to be applied selectively. When you are a nobody, they wont care. When you are a person of interest this law will be applied to you. If they want you are just a tourist, otherwise you are a spy who took 5000 photos.
- hwbunny 2y ago
  Sure, you watch too many movies :DDD

Never had any issues. Noone cared about my camera while I was there. And I created like 5K photos there. Not that I ever use GPS, because it eats away your batter, but noone really cared about it.

nirui 2y ago

If my memory is still correct, in China camera products must have their GPS module removed/disabled before they're licensed for sale. Since these products looked the same from the outside, and are commonly used by everyone who wants to, nobody will bother to check every single one. Unless of course, if the camera gets too close to (say) a military/civil defense installation (often includes their office buildings), their security will probably do a check or just ask people to leave. They usually setup a sign near by to indicate "No trespassing" and maybe "No photographing" etc, just don't bring the camera over the line (I mean, better stay out completely if it says "No trespassing").

ammo1662 2y ago
Most of the cameras do not have GPS module. And for some cameras like Canon 5D Mark IV [1], or 6D Mark II [2], they do have GPS even for Chinese market. However, for the Camera which have GPS module, you will need additional filing to license your product. So some of the companies just hide the feature. Clearly it is not "must have GPS removed". [1] https://www.canon.com.cn/product/5dmk4/spec.html https://www.canon.com.cn/product/5dmk4/spec.html [2] https://www.canon.com.cn/product/6dmk2/spec.html https://www.canon.com.cn/product/6dmk2/spec.html
- nirui 2y ago
  That was completely from my memory, and I don't work in the industry, so my information/interpretation maybe inaccurate. Thanks for the additional info.

Kadin 2y ago

In many products, there are different firmware or software loads for the PRC market (specifically PRC -- until recently not the HK versions) and the rest of the world. In some devices it's possible to lock satellite positioning to only Chinese constellation (BeiDou), or introduce error, or just not include positioning by default. Of course, some of those devices get through, or are carried in by tourists, or are enabled by enthusiasts who load the non-China firmware. This seems to be understood. The Chinese are smart enough, one presumes, to know that actual state-level competitors can get accurate (in the chosen geodetic system) location data without relying on tourists' geotagged Google Photos uploads. But that does lead to the question, "why, then?" -- if your adversaries know your secret, it's probably not worth the effort of protecting, anymore. (And why, in the US, we know about stuff like VENONA now.) The Chinese seem focused on a different threat: they don't care if a few people have good location data, even if some of them work for the US NGA, they just don't want everyone to have that data. Which is interesting, because it suggests that that they're less concerned about a foreign government with strategic intelligence, than they are their own domestic population. This isn't about state secrets vs other states; it's about denying their own population a capability that they find valuable, and thus threatening.

petre 2y ago
It's the commie way of "fixing" things to deter "enemies of the state": eastern radio bands, inaccurate maps, neighbour spy networks, serveral people on a landline so somebody can always listen, listening rooms for secret police inside state companies, heavily wiretaping citizens, continous party propaganda etc. Most of it is bs and it doesn't work or it's easy to circumvent, but one can never be too careful.

rvba 2y ago

Those laws are there to be applied selectively. When you are a nobody, they wont care. When you are a person of interest this law will be applied to you. If they want you are just a tourist, otherwise you are a spy who took 5000 photos.

hwbunny 2y ago
Sure, you watch too many movies :DDD