When you have big brother running your country .....
..... especially when its now thirty five years since the 1984 date of Orwell's dystopian future.
You can be sure that all technology, and the systems it supports, such as social media or the financial system, will be used to support the states control over the population.
For instance, in North Korea all TV's, Phones and Computers are locked to the states systems, and not to the outside worlds. China, is too big to be able to exert that sort of control, although state censorship means that much of the content of the Internet or Satellite TV is successfully (if somewhat crudely) controlled.
But its inside the economy that this sort of control can really impinge on the average citizen. For instance asking for a loan or credit card, is normally determined by the lender checking the applicants credit worthiness. In the West, there are a myriad of systems that credit score individuals based on debt defaulting history, public criminal records, house or address ownership, employment record, age etc.
But the Chinese government are not happy with these types of financial system checks, and is building an omnipotent "social credit" system that is meant to rate each citizen's "trustworthiness".
The system is already well into the development stage and its expected that by as soon as 2020, everyone (man woman and child), in China will be enrolled in a vast national database that compiles from cradle to the grave, all fiscal and government information (including minor traffic violations), and distils it into a single number ranking each citizen.
This will replace the current system of credit scoring being carried out by such companies as Alibaba (the world's biggest on-line shopping platform) under its sub division Sesame Credit, who run their own "social credit" scores under state-approved pilot projects. Even love isnt going to avoid this state interest, as Baihe (China's biggest matchmaking service) is linking up with the systems, and will promote clients with good social credit scores .... the company has explained that although "A person's appearance is very important .... it's more important to be able make a living. Your partner's fortune guarantees a comfortable life."
There is no doubting that China's financial credit system needs reforming (The central bank has the financial data from 800 million people, but only 320 million have a traditional credit history), however the explanation from China's elite State Council of what the state social credit will achieve is very disturbing, stating that it will "forge a public opinion environment that trust-keeping is glorious", adding that the "new system will reward those who report acts of breach of trust".
...... Orwell's Big Brother is firmly alive.
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| Big Brother Has A Brother ....... |
..... especially when its now thirty five years since the 1984 date of Orwell's dystopian future.
You can be sure that all technology, and the systems it supports, such as social media or the financial system, will be used to support the states control over the population.
For instance, in North Korea all TV's, Phones and Computers are locked to the states systems, and not to the outside worlds. China, is too big to be able to exert that sort of control, although state censorship means that much of the content of the Internet or Satellite TV is successfully (if somewhat crudely) controlled.
But its inside the economy that this sort of control can really impinge on the average citizen. For instance asking for a loan or credit card, is normally determined by the lender checking the applicants credit worthiness. In the West, there are a myriad of systems that credit score individuals based on debt defaulting history, public criminal records, house or address ownership, employment record, age etc.
But the Chinese government are not happy with these types of financial system checks, and is building an omnipotent "social credit" system that is meant to rate each citizen's "trustworthiness".
The system is already well into the development stage and its expected that by as soon as 2020, everyone (man woman and child), in China will be enrolled in a vast national database that compiles from cradle to the grave, all fiscal and government information (including minor traffic violations), and distils it into a single number ranking each citizen.
This will replace the current system of credit scoring being carried out by such companies as Alibaba (the world's biggest on-line shopping platform) under its sub division Sesame Credit, who run their own "social credit" scores under state-approved pilot projects. Even love isnt going to avoid this state interest, as Baihe (China's biggest matchmaking service) is linking up with the systems, and will promote clients with good social credit scores .... the company has explained that although "A person's appearance is very important .... it's more important to be able make a living. Your partner's fortune guarantees a comfortable life."
There is no doubting that China's financial credit system needs reforming (The central bank has the financial data from 800 million people, but only 320 million have a traditional credit history), however the explanation from China's elite State Council of what the state social credit will achieve is very disturbing, stating that it will "forge a public opinion environment that trust-keeping is glorious", adding that the "new system will reward those who report acts of breach of trust".
...... Orwell's Big Brother is firmly alive.
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