What does a country do when its citizens have a lack of trust? How do you conduct business when you think the other person is going to rip you off? How do you guarantee good quality products or services? How do you get people to act the way you want for the greater good?
Most societies use shame and social pressure to make individuals conform – such rules are called societal norms and tradition. The Chinese are attempting to use technology to achieve the same end.
Why is China different? It may have something to do with the effects of the Cultural Revolution. Friends and family members were pitted against each other and reported to the police to be dealt with. In this type of environment, trust is difficult to foster.
There are different social credit systems in China:
Business trustworthiness system: blacklist system for discredited business organisations. Violations include not paying tax, producing low-quality goods, and disobeying environmental protection policies.
Government trustworthiness system: evaluation system targeting civil servants and government institutions. This category attracts the second-highest number of enforcement actions.
Social trustworthiness system: blacklist system for discredited individuals. This includes antisocial behaviour, playing loud music or eating on public transport. Violating traffic rules and jaywalking. Making reservations at restaurants or hotels but not showing up. And failing to sort personal waste correctly.
Judiciary public trust system: blacklist system for discredited individuals. 'Deadbeat debtors' are advertised. Citizens are encouraged to report individuals who they believe could repay their debts or fines.
Punishment for poor social credit includes increased audits and government inspections for businesses. Reduced employment prospects and exclusion from high-prestige work. Travel bans, slow internet connection, exclusion from hotels, and public shaming.
Rewards for positive social credit include less frequent inspections and audits for businesses. Fast-tracked approvals for government services. Discounts on energy bills, being able to rent bikes and hotels without payment of a deposit. Better interest rates at banks and tax breaks.
As of 2019, 27 million air tickets and 6 million high-speed rail tickets had been denied to people who were on a blacklist. Personal information of blacklisted people is publicly accessible and advertised. This may be online but also at various public venues such as movie theatres and buses. Some children of blacklisted individuals are banned from attending private schools and universities.
Can anyone argue against this system in China? Don’t we have similar systems in the West? The punishing of children for the sins of their parents is a bit harsh and goes against our sense of justice. But are not children of prisons punished for their parent's lawbreaking? Separating children from their parents causes huge emotional damage.
The real issue people have with this social credit system is that it is linked to the apparatus of mass surveillance run by an authoritarian State. Every country keeps tabs on its citizens for many reasons. The question is when does it go too far?
All citizens in China are required to carry a national ID card – many countries do. The new generation of cards will be able to track movement. These cards are the only acceptable identification. They are needed to purchase plane tickets, high-speed train tickets, financial services, education and healthcare. Real name registration is mandatory for internet access. Purchasing a SIM card requires a facial recognition scan so the mobile phone number is linked to a real identity.
In 2018, law enforcement officers were equipped with facial recognition smart-glasses to apprehend criminals. Two years later, they were given smart-helmets equipped with AI-powered infrared cameras to detect pedestrians' temperature amid the coronavirus pandemic. They also had facial recognition capabilities, license plate recognition and the ability to scan QR codes.
Skynet is not just the computer system from the Terminator films. It is also a Chinese system of facial recognition cameras used to combat crime. Citizens are identified through cross-referencing with national databases held by the government. Sharp Eyes project monitors all public spaces using surveillance. Its aim is to 'closely guard against, and crackdown on, the infiltration, sabotage, subversion and separatist activities by hostile forces'.
Police Cloud is a system to collate data from healthcare, social media and internet activity. It has access to residential addresses and family relations. Personal information like birth control information, religious affiliations and biometrics. Plus hotel & flight records, train records and CCTV footage.
Digital Yuan is a pilot digital currency issued by the People's Bank of China. Widespread adoption would theoretically allow authorities to see economic activity in real-time and offer many benefits in managing the economy. But it would also give the State the power to turn off access to money for people deemed problematic or criminal - ‘comply or starve’. This is an immense power to wield.
A State needs to be able to manage and control its citizens – this is common sense. How to do this while balancing civil liberties, public protection and the rule of law is complicated. It is becoming more so as technology allows new options to be implemented that were only found in sci-fi a few years earlier.
People want to be safe and will always look towards the State or tribal leader to provide such safety. We are happy for the liberty of others to be curtailed and even removed if we think it will make us safer. The problem only occurs when it is your rights that are removed, when it is personal and detrimental to your life – then it is an issue and has gone too far.
We do not need to look towards China for an example of where State power has become too big and powerful. We are less free today in the UK than we were a decade ago. Let that sink in.
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