According to Darren Byler from the University of Colorado, ”Uyghur life is now about generating data”. He says they routinely have to provide DNA samples to local officials, undergo digital scans and most have to download a government phone app, which gathers data including their contact lists and texts. ”Everyone knows that the smartphone is something you have to carry with you, and if you don't carry it you can be detained, they know that you're being tracked by it. And they feel like there's no escape,” he added. Xinjiang is home to 12 million ethnic minority Uyghurs, most of whom are Muslim. The area contains the widely condemned ‘re-education centres’ which have been labelled modern-day concentration camps, where, at an estimate, over a million are currently held. A recent survivor of one of these high security camps revealed witnessing rapes, beatings, and torture.