China’s Social Credit System – A Open Prison

China’s social credit system has often been compared to the dystopian future depicted in sci-fi films like Black Mirror and novels like 1984. However, the reality is more complicated and in some ways, worse. The concept of social credit was first introduced in 2007 and was initially announced by the government as an opt-in system in 2014. However, there is a difference between the official government system and private, corporate versions. The latter’s scoring system that includes shopping habits and friendships is often conflated with the former.

In the UK, credit checks are common, with data brokers like Experian tracing the timely manner in which we pay our debts, giving us a score that’s used by lenders and mortgage providers. We also have social-style scores, and anyone who has shopped online with eBay has a rating on shipping times and communication, while Uber drivers and passengers both rate each other. If your score falls too far, you may lose out on certain privileges.

China’s social credit system takes this idea to a whole new level by judging citizens’ behavior and trustworthiness in all aspects of life. Whether it’s jaywalking, not paying a court bill, or playing loud music on the train, all of these actions can result in losing certain rights, such as booking a flight or train ticket. Mareike Ohlberg, a research associate at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, explains that while the idea of social credit is not unique to China, the scale of the Chinese system is unprecedented.

China’s social credit system was unveiled in a 2014 plan, and pieces of the system are already in place. The Chinese government aims to have the rest of the system in place by 2020, though this is less of a deadline and more of a marker for the end of a planning period, according to Samantha Hoffman, a non-resident fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. There is no single, nationally coordinated system, with local governments having their own social record systems that operate differently. Unofficial private versions are also in operation, such as Ant Financial’s Zhima Credit (better known as Sesame Credit), which uses shopping habits and other data to inform credit-style scores on an opt-in basis. While there are pilots in place, they do not all work in the same way.

The UK is very much ready to adapt the China Social Credit System with the Universal Credit being deployed by HMRC. It’s happening already and people are still sleeping.

China’s social credit system is a complex and evolving concept that includes both government and private versions. While the official government system and private corporate systems, such as Ant Financial’s Sesame Credit, are not the same, they are often conflated in the media. Private systems, while not part of the official system, are expected to be integrated into it in the future, and some data collected by private companies is already used in government trials. However, Sesame Credit claims that user consent is required for any data sharing.

The lack of transparency and protection in the data collection process is a significant concern. As private systems link up with government rankings, large amounts of data are collected without clear rules on how it is analyzed and scored. While Sesame Credit provides some details about the types of data it uses, there is no algorithmic transparency.

The government’s goal is to create a country-wide social credit system that includes both citizens and businesses, with each given a unique identity number and a permanent record. While some reports talk about a blacklist, this is only a small part of the official system, and getting a low social credit score does not necessarily mean being blacklisted by the government. The criteria for scoring depend on the specific location and the catalogs of behaviors that have been established there.

In summary, China’s social credit system is a complex and evolving concept that includes both government and private versions. While the official government system and private corporate systems are not the same, they are often conflated in the media, leading to misunderstandings about what the social credit system actually is. The lack of transparency and protection in the data collection process is a significant concern, and the specific criteria for scoring depend on the location and catalogs established there.