Social credit system

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Social Credit System (SKS, English Social Credit , Chinese  社会信用体系 , Pinyin Shehui Xinyong tǐxì ) is an online -driven rating - or "social scoring" system in the People's Republic of China . It represents an attempt by the total control of the population by awarding "points" for (from the perspective of the ruling Communist Party of China ) desirable behavior, or their withdrawal for negative behavior. The system is accompanied by a quasi ubiquitous monitoring , from whose data feeds a large part of the scoring. For this purpose, the social and political behavior of private individuals, companies and other organizations (such as non-governmental organizations ) is analyzed to determine their “social reputation ”. Anyone who achieves a point level that is too low must expect restrictions in everyday life, for example when accessing social services or looking for jobs and training. The goal is to educate Chinese society to be more "honest" in social behavior and more political loyalty through extensive surveillance.

Planned guidelines for the creation of the social credit system (2014–2020)

The government bill for the Chinese social credit system "Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System (2014–2020)" was approved by the State Council on June 14, 2014 . The system, which is currently working on a voluntary basis, should be mandatory for the almost 22 million residents of Beijing by the end of 2020. The aim is to increase " honesty in government affairs " ( English: honesty in government affairs , Chinese政务 诚信), "commercial integrity" ( English commercial integrity , Chinese商务 诚信), "social integrity" ( English societal integrity , Chinese社会)诚信) and "judicial credibility" ( English judicial credibility , Chinese司法 公 信).

construction

Integrated databases and information

State and private databases are integrated at national and subnational level . Data on financial creditworthiness, criminal records and other types of behavior recorded as relevant are used for the calculation. Furthermore, it can be assumed that data from selected partner companies such as Alibaba Group (Chinese equivalent to Amazon ), Tencent (Chinese equivalent to Facebook ), Baidu (Chinese equivalent to Google ) will be included in the evaluation. The Alibaba Manager Min Wanli confirmed the Handelsblatt that his company builds its own credit rating system that could serve as a model for the state system: "We are convinced that our points system can be a good help for the government of the State considered even ours. To adopt the point system. If he wants, we are happy to support ".

Concrete design

The system is in the test phase until 2020. In the pilot project in Rongcheng City , people start with 1000 points. Points are added or subtracted depending on the behavior. To evaluate addition to be credit , the ability to pay and the criminal record and "personal behavior" ( English personal behavior and preference ) and "personal relationships" ( English interpersonal relationships ) are used.

implementation

Such systems have been active for test purposes in several Chinese cities since 2017, for example in the eastern Chinese city of Rongcheng, with a population of 1 million . According to researcher Antonia Hmaidi from the University of Duisburg-Essen, China is currently running more than 70 pilot projects in which various aspects of the system are being tested. According to Hmaidi, it is not clear which factors will ultimately flow into the evaluation of the citizens. In addition, the authorities are facing major technical challenges, said Hmaidi at a lecture at the Chaos Communication Congress in Leipzig in December 2018.

consequences

Consequences of a negative rating

Careers with government and government-related organizations can be hindered. Travel restrictions (no more train or plane tickets), the reduction of Internet speed, the exclusion from public tenders and higher taxes to be paid are possible.

At the beginning of 2019 it became known that in 2018, based on data from the Goldener Schild project , the Chinese government had refused to buy 17.5 million airline tickets and 5.5 million train tickets because travelers were accused of various minor violations and they had too few social points.

Consequences of a positive rating

Chinese citizens with a positive rating get quicker access to consumer credit and are preferred for exit regulations such as: B. when applying for a visa.

Consequences in transition

According to the German Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, only about three out of ten German companies in China were familiar with the social credit system in a business context about a year before the planned introduction. In August 2019, the EU Chamber of Commerce complained that European companies were not prepared for the new system.

criticism

To what extent the system will actually be implemented and whether the intended effects will or can only occur is controversial among social scientists. One thesis is that the debate is projecting technology fears from Western societies onto China, and that a comprehensive surveillance system is neither intended nor possible.

For the journalist Kai Strittmatter , the system is a means of securing power. "China's dictatorship is currently undergoing an update with the instruments of the 21st century", he writes in the book The Reinvention of the Dictatorship - How China is building the digital surveillance state and thereby challenging us . The communist party believes that big data and artificial intelligence can create control mechanisms to strengthen the economy and the one-party system. “At the same time, it wants to create the most perfect surveillance state the world has ever seen,” writes Strittmatter.

The political scientist Sebastian Heilmann criticizes the system as an expression of technological innovation in China. The surveillance techniques developed by Beijing could be exported globally, he writes in the book Red Swan: How Unorthodox Policy-Making Facilitated China's Rise . Chinese “techno-authoritarianism” could find imitators, especially in emerging markets.

The Handelsblatt journalist Stephan Scheuer criticizes the system as a threat to technology companies in China. While the state has promoted the rise of Internet companies such as Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent for years, companies are now being pressured to build a sophisticated surveillance system for the state. " Baidu , Alibaba and Tencent should contribute their specialist knowledge in order to make state surveillance as efficient as possible," he writes in the book The Master Plan - China's Path to High-Tech World Domination.

“Anyone who dares to rant about the grievances in the country on social media will be deducted points. Wang speaks of the “model communist citizen” that the Chinese leadership wants to create in this way. At the same time, it means 'total control'. "

- Felix Lee : The AAA Citizens

Comparison with other countries

Germany

In February 2018, the Handelsblatt Global reported that Germany may be heading for a system that is comparable to that of China. Use of data from the universal credit rating system, Schufa , geolocation and medical records to determine access to credit and health insurance.

See also

literature

  • Kai Strittmatter: Reinventing the dictatorship - How China is building the digital surveillance state and thereby challenging us . Piper, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-492-05895-7 .
  • Stephan Scheuer: The master plan - China's path to high-tech world domination . Herder, Freiburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-451-39900-8 . Chapter 8 "The State: Big Brother Meets Big Data" on the social credit system.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jay Stanley: China's Nightmarish Citizen Scores Are a Warning For Americans . In: American Civil Liberties Union . October 5, 2015 ( aclu.org [accessed December 2, 2017]).
  2. ↑ heise online: 34C3: China - The machine-readable population. December 28, 2017, accessed January 11, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System (2014-2020) . In: China Copyright and Media . June 14, 2014 ( wordpress.com [accessed May 16, 2018]).
  4. ^ State Council Guiding Opinions concerning Establishing and Perfecting Incentives for Promise-keeping and Joint Punishment Systems for Trust-Breaking, and Accelerating the Construction of Social Sincerity , October 18, 2016, accessed September 2017.
  5. ↑ Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System (2014-2020) . In: China Copyright and Media . June 14, 2014 ( wordpress.com [accessed May 16, 2018]).
  6. ↑ Rachel Botsman: Big data meets Big Brother as China moves to rate its citizens . ( wired.co.uk [accessed May 16, 2018]).
  7. ↑ Cashless Society, Cached Data: Security Considerations for a Chinese Social Credit System - The Citizen Lab . In: The Citizen Lab . January 24, 2017 ( citizenlab.ca [accessed May 16, 2018]).
  8. ↑ Alibaba's AI boss Min Wanli: "There are companies that invest time in board games - we make ambulances faster". Retrieved January 10, 2019 .
  9. ↑ a b Axel Dorloff: China's social credit system: On the way into the IT dictatorship . In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur (Hrsg.): Weltzeit . September 5, 2017 ( deutschlandfunkkultur.de [accessed December 2, 2017]).
  10. ↑ Rachel Botsman: Big data meets Big Brother as China moves to rate its citizens . ( wired.co.uk [accessed May 16, 2018]).
  11. ↑ Antonia Hmaidi: "The" Social Credit System - Presentation at 35C3. Retrieved January 10, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Mercator Institute for China Studies (merics.org), Mirjam Meissner: China's social credit system , website and PDF file, in MERICS China Monitor No. 39 , from August 2017.
  13. ↑ "China blocks 17.5 million plane tickets for people without enough 'social credit'" The Independent of February 23, 2019
  14. ↑ Rachel Botsman: Big data meets Big Brother as China moves to rate its citizens . ( wired.co.uk [accessed May 16, 2018]).
  15. ↑ China: Control system for companies. In: www.focus.de. August 30, 2019, accessed August 30, 2019 .
  16. ↑ heise.de: re: publica: US researcher considers China's social credit system to be propaganda . May 7, 2019
  17. ↑ The AAA Citizens . In: ZEIT ONLINE . ( zeit.de [accessed on May 3, 2018]).
  18. ^ Warning: Germany edges toward Chinese-style rating of citizens (en-US) . In: Handelsblatt Global Edition , February 17, 2018.