How China Utilizes Data to Control Its Citizens

In an era dominated by technological advancement, the exchange of information is constant and pervasive. Our lives are completely woven into a digital landscape and our data is constantly monitored and collected. While the collection of data can prove to be a benefit of safety for the citizens, it can also prove to be an invasion of privacy. A technology that can heavily control the lifestyle of the citizens. At the forefront of China’s efforts to control its citizens are two different methods that have been implemented. The first one being the social credit system and the second being its data surveillance. Using these methods, China has been able to monitor the data of its citizens at an unprecedented level, giving them immense societal control.  

First announced in 2014, China’s social credit system is a digital reputation model that monitors the behavior of the citizens. While most data is gathered through financial, criminal, and governmental records, China plans to experiment with data collection through video surveillance and even real-time data transfers. The system will even be implemented on companies, requesting that companies submit information on their patterns and suppliers to the government. Bad behavior within the business or ratings from suppliers and customers will affect the social credit of the company. Just like credit scores, social scores can also move up and down. Doing things like smoking in prohibited zones, driving recklessly, not paying your bills on time, or even playing too many video games can cause a dip in a social score. Punishments can range from restricted travel to limits on what people can spend their money on. Bad social credit can prevent people from getting business-class tickets or even nights at more luxurious hotels. The rankings are judged by China’s economic planning team, the National Development and Reform Commission, the People’s Bank of China, and the Chinese Court system. While this system is only operating in certain areas as experimentation, the goal is for it to eventually be mandatory. 

China has also directed attention to its surveillance system both online and in person. Considered the next groundbreaking development in data-driven technology by the Economist, China’s facial recognition system utilizes artificial intelligence to be a part of everyday life for people. From checking in at the airport to purchasing items in a restaurant, China attempts to implement facial recognition in everyday life. While this technology could be used to improve daily life, the government plans to use it to gain more control over the people. Its plan is to use facial recognition as the foundation of its national surveillance plan, using it to monitor people’s background, what crimes they’ve committed, and even what they’re thinking. Through this plan, China can control its citizens at an unmatched level. The daily lives of everyone will be completely watched and there’s nothing you can’t get away with. Its online surveillance is also a force to be reckoned with as they are utilizing systems that mine data from all the Western social media apps to gain information for the government. Different software that the Chinese utilize include a state media software program that mines Twitter and Facebook to create a database of foreign journalists, a Beijing police intelligence program that analyzes Western chatter on Hong Kong and Taiwan; and a cyber center in Xinjiang that catalogs the mainly Muslim minority group’s language content abroad. Through these methods of data collection, China is able to keep heavy chunks of data on essentially all of its citizens, making them a ubiquitous government.