Some Attachments Behind Cell Phone Security Issues

(Minghui.org) Two practitioners in my local area were recently arrested after their phone conversation was tapped. They both knew their phones were being monitored by police, but didn’t do anything about it, saying they weren’t afraid.

This is a serious lesson. Even after one practitioner was arrested and his phone was in the hands of the police, another practitioner still called him. I’ve been thinking about this and would like to share my thoughts.

Selfishness vs. Being Considerate of Others

We often talk about phone security. Whose security is it – our own safety or the safety of others? We may be worried about our own safety and I’ve had this problem too. In the past when I reminded others about phone security, I was worried their phone interaction with me might cause problems for me.

Some practitioners appeared to be careful and used a dedicated phone that was only for practitioners. But there are still risks doing this. If one practitioner’s contact number is exposed to the police, everyone could then be at risk.

Taking Chances

We may sometimes remind ourselves about phone security and do something about it. But over time we slack off, thinking everything will be fine. We may start to take risks or even say ambiguous or random things during a phone conversation, and assume it will be okay. This won’t fool the police monitoring us, because they can monitor our phones for a long time. I know one practitioner who was reported to the police after giving Falun Dafa materials to an everyday person, but she wasn’t arrested until one year later. We don’t know how much information police had obtained about all her interactions with other practitioners during that year.

Elderly practitioners are no exception either. Some bring their cell phones to group Fa study. Others may remind them once or twice, but are hesitant to keep reminding them. Sometimes we don’t even know someone has a cell phone with them until we hear it ringing. Some practitioners speak to overseas practitioners using video chat. They may casually mention things about practitioners in the local area and ask about the situation outside China. Even non-practitioner family members learned lots of information from these conversations.

I remember a friend received an overseas phone call several years ago, and right afterwards, he received a text message from the Chinese authorities, warning him not to listen to people overseas. Right now the monitoring technology is very advanced and practitioners in both mainland China and overseas should pay attention to this.

Coordinating Practitioners

Some coordinators tend to call practitioners to discuss things, because it’s convenient and saves time. But this could become a loophole.

Coordination is also a process of cultivating and improving xinxing. Plus, a coordinator knows lots of practitioners, so he or she should be extra careful about security. But some ignored warnings about security, believing their righteous thoughts were strong. Some have connections with several study groups and often share information about one group with another group. I think this demonstrates a show off mentality and an attachment to fame.

Everyday Phone Apps

Phone apps such as WeChat are known to have safety issues and many practitioners removed these apps from their cell phones a long time ago. But some practitioners didn’t and may still be reluctant to remove these apps even now. Some practitioners reinstalled these apps after removing them earlier, saying they need them to contact family members.

The issues listed above are areas where we should do better. Several notices from the Minghui Editorial Board mentioned cell phone security. They showed the compassion of Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa. We should cherish the opportunity to cultivate and do well on this issue of security.