By the year 2020, the Chinese government will have installed a national social credit system that will influence the lives of 1.4 billion people. China will give its citizens a financial credit status that is linked to every aspect of their social life. This creates an invisible curriculum vitae for all citizens. Plans to develop a social credit system have been developed since 2014 and pilot versions of this project are already being tested in numerous counties as well as approximately 20 cities in China.
Specifics as to the criteria of the evaluation have not yet been publicly release. However, test projects reveal the current reach of the surveillance system. In Suzhou City, all inhabitants start with a basic score of 100 points. Good deeds such as donating blood have a positive impact on the citizens’ credit rating. The purpose of this system is to reward people with benefit points for what the government considers good conduct. This includes responsible personal management of investments and debts, virtuous social behavior, having friends with a high point score, donating to charity, or buying diapers and thus providing proof of boosting the birth rate in China. Conversely, penalty points will be given for immoral behavior, domestic violence, playing video games, or jaywalking. The social credit score will have an impact on access to public services, loans, free travel, and career choices.
The system is supported by technologies such as artificial intelligence and a wide range of data collection methods such as facial recognition technology. Surveillance information will consist of GPS data, chat protocols, data transfers, private messages, and personal ID numbers. China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBC), is one of the main enforcers of the credit point system and has collected roughly 3.3 billion files of data on millions of debtors thus far. Similarly, two of China’s most widely used online payment platforms, Alipay and WeChat Pay, aggregate comprehensive information on users. The fact that transactions worth 5.5 trillion USD are made annually in China demonstrates the power of a corporation such as WeChat, which offers messaging services, games, and news among other functions.
There are two central risks regarding the installation of the Chinese social credit system. First, merging the financial profile and credit score of a person with political, moral, and social determinants will grant the Chinese government an unprecedented insight into and control over the private lives of the country’s citizens. Tying peoples’ outlook and possibilities in life with their good conduct introduces a national re-education project from which China’s citizens are presumed to be unable to escape. More than one billion people will be blocked from the possibilities of a life in liberty. This raises concerns about whether China is starting a project that infringes on its citizens’ human rights.
As a consequence, a name and shame culture among the Chinese may evolve and ultimately escalate. Citizens will rely heavily on their regularly-updated scores and are expected to engage in activities and associate with people that will raise their score. Banks such as Zhima Credit will examine the social credit of an account holder’s circle of friends. Such a development will drive a wedge between those with good credit status and those struggling with their points account. The utilization of an app in Hebei Province illustrates this point. The app discloses the location of deeply indebted citizens in a 500-meter (547-yard) circumference of app users. This elevates whistle-blowing and social expulsion to a new level.
The second risk involves China’s data protection policy and the powerlessness of international law. While China is a leader in data privacy in the commercial sector in Asia, the reverse seems true for data surveillance from the government. Compared with the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU, Chinese standards are stricter and more comprehensive with regard to issues such as consumer consent requirements, types of personal information, privacy notices, or national security. They are a tool to screen the compliance of foreign and domestic companies in China. Increasing consumer trust and cybersecurity while also enhancing its own control of China’s society is in line with the current government’s policy of solidifying power within the country.
As international law is largely based on treaties and agreements, Chinese citizens will have no recourse to international law in the near future. Data privacy is the affair of a sovereign political entity and each sovereign has its own version of privacy protection regulations. If China does not sign and ratify an international treaty, it will maintain free reign over its privacy regulations. It seems unlikely that the Chinese government will commit to such a legal agreement in the future as this would interfere with its social surveillance system. Considering China’s economic and political power on the international stage, pushing the country into such an agreement also seems improbable.
