It’s been in the works for years – a network of mass technology surveillance never seen before in our society. What seems like one of the plots of the popular dystopian fiction series is already a reality in China.
The “Social Credit System” of which continues to be the most populous country in the world, is expected to be fully operational by 2020 and not only monitors the almost 1.4 billion citizens of the country, but is also designed to control and restrict their actions , in a gigantic experiment in social engineering that some have dubbed the “gamification of trust.”
This is because the project, which has been progressing slowly for more than a decade, is based on assigning an individual trust score to all citizens, and also to companies. In effect, everyone will have a note.
What will determine the score?
According to the Communist Party of China, the system “will allow people who build trust to move freely under the sky and make it difficult for the discredited to take a single step .”
To achieve this, the system – unprecedented – will take advantage of the immense reach of China’s technological infrastructure: some 200 million CCTV cameras, so that these eyes are always attentive, always vigilant and connect to facial recognition systems, matching the data with financial, medical and legal records, and at the same time all regulated and interpreted by advanced networks of artificial intelligence of great caliber.
The dramatic dystopia is strikingly reminiscent of the prophetic and haunting episode of Black Mirror, called “ Nosedive ” or even the Japanese anime called Psycho-Pass , in which we are presented with a future in which it is possible to measure instantaneously. the mental state of a person and the probability that that individual may commit a crime. What is unusual here is that although the similarities are many, China’s ultimate goal goes even further.
An algorithmic government
For such a complex plan, the essence of social credit is simple. In localized pilot programs already in operation in Chinese cities, citizens are assigned a numerical score.
Thus, with positive personal and social acts, such as paying bills on time, participating in charitable activities and properly classifying their recycling, citizens obtain a high score, which gives them access to benefits, such as better credit facilities, cheaper public transport and even shorter wait times for hospital services.
But … if the rules are broken, you have to be careful. People who are late with payments, or caught robbing or smoking in non-smoking areas, will be punished.
In what is beginning to be called a “digital dictatorship,” every time we commit a violation, our score is lowered, which means we incur financial penalties and even travel restrictions.
This is not all friends
Individuals are not the only ones subject to this great change. So are companies based in China and also companies that are outside the country, such as international airlines, something that could directly interfere with the sovereignty of other nations.
The game is on.
