China Launches Espionage Probe Against Coca-Cola For Alleged Misuse Of GPS Services For Illegal Mapping
The Chinese government last year killed much of Google’s so-called “civilian mapping” services, and refused to renew Google’s licences for these, including “Street View”, because it was discovered that Google was interested primarily in mapping sensitive military areas in China.
And this isn’t the first time that Americans have been caught with sophisticated hand-held GPS devices, collecting data very near Chinese military installations.
In each of the above cases, the offenses were presented as being performed by individuals rather than the US government, but there appeared to be no question that the data would end up with the CIA or some such.
Here is another article that is a bit more clear.
Note the following from the below article:
China Launches Espionage Probe Against Coca-Cola For Alleged Misuse Of GPS Services For Illegal Mapping
China has launched a probe against American soft drinks giant Coca-Cola for its alleged spying activities in the country amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing over cyber attacks and espionage allegations.
Chinese authorities have accused Coca-Cola of conducting illegal mapping in many sensitive areas in the country, according to a report in South China Morning Post, Thursday.
Apparently, the top intelligence authorities are involved in the investigation, which is being conducted jointly by the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation and the Ministry of State Security, South China Morning Post reported.
“We understand that espionage is a serious charge against a world famous company,” an official from the administration told the South China Morning Post. “We are still in the process of gathering information.”
Probe is launched against many subsidiaries of the Coca-Cola and covers multiple provinces in the country on whether the company used location-finding technology in violation of the country’s laws against illegal map-making, the official said.
“What we can say for now is that many subsidiaries of Coca-Cola are involved and this happens in many provinces. Due to the sheer scale of the case, the complexity of the technology involved and the implication to our national security, we are working with the Ministry of State Security on this.”
The news did not come as a surprise as two days earlier, Li Pengde, deputy director of the administration, had openly accused the beverage major of spying. In a program on national radio, he said some of its employees were caught while attempting to collect classified geographic information using handheld GPS devices in Yunnan Province.
There were about 21 similar cases of alleged illegal spying reported in the province, which is being investigated by the authorities, Li Pengde said without divulging further details.
Map-making and related activities are highly restricted in China for national security concerns and the companies and providers of map services are required to get prior permission and licenses from the government. It is also mandatory for the map providers to locate their servers in China mainland.
In a statement, Coca-Cola said they are fully cooperating with the Chinese investigation. The company said its trucks use GPS-based customer logistics system to improve customer services and fuel efficiency.
“These customer logistics systems are broadly used for commercial application across many industries in China and worldwide,” the company spokesperson told the Associated Press.
______________________
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/asia-china/2009/09/14/224633/Coca-Cola-ex-employee.htm
the company’s Shanghai bottling plant, run by Shenmei Beverage and Food Co., but did not give details.
State media reports in recent days said police detained the former employee, surnamed Zhu, who worked in Shenmei’s marketing department, two weeks ago in a corruption investigation.
Zhu is suspected of accepting bribes of more than 10 million yuan (US$1.47 million), said a report on the Web site of the China Economic Daily, citing an unidentified person familiar with the case. The story did not say when Zhu allegedly took the bribes or what they were for.
China fingers Coca-Cola in ‘national security’ mapping probe
US soft drink giant Coca-Cola has been accused by Chinese authorities of illegally mapping a remote south western province. The incident comes amidst an intensifying cyber-security row between Beijing and Washington.
Coca-Cola was accused of “illegally collecting classified information with handheld GPS equipment”,
http://www.businessinsider.com/coca-cola-facing-china-spy-probe-2013-3
China Accuses Coca-Cola Of Using GPS To Illegally Map Sensitive Areas
Coca-Cola will be investigated by the Chinese government for misusing GPS data in a case that appears to be linked to modern espionage fears, the South China Morning Post reports.
According to Coca-Cola, the company uses a standard GPS tracking tool to improve the efficiency of their deliveries.
Chinese investigators, however, claim that employees of the company in China’s Yunnan Province were improperly using the handheld GPS devices. One Chinese law enforcement official said that Coca-Cola’s technology was so sophisticated that the government couldn’t analyze it.
According to reports on Chinese media sites, Coca-Cola is just one of 21 companies facing investigation.
Li Pengde, an official with a national mapping agency, did not allude to Coca-Cola, but he did allude to the possibility of mapping technology being used for international espionage.
“Some people seek personal benefits through collecting that information,” Li said. “We can’t rule out that some gave that information to foreign intelligence agencies.”
Coca-Cola China under investigation for using maps and GPS
According to the Bureau of Yunnan Mapping, manufacturer of soft drinks and other 21 companies could have used maps and GPS global positioning devices for logistic and market information under exclusive government control.
In a statement to Spanish news agency EFE, the representation in China to Coca-Cola bottlers admitted that his conduct “logistics” including “the use of digital maps and location systems” in order to “improve our levels service and increase efficiency. ”
Dr. Long Xinming is the Founder and the Editor for the bearcanada.com.