From China with love: social credit systems

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In recent years, monitoring technology has been expanded dramatically – and future developments could potentially invade all aspects of life and nudge us into good behaviour.

For example, the UK government recently floated plans for a health app that will monitor our shopping lists, oversee our eating habits, record our personal exercise routines and reward us with ‘virtue points’ for good behaviour. These credits, like loyalty card points, could be exchanged for discounts, offers and free tickets. What’s more, many see in the deployment of ‘vaccine passport’ apps – and the accompanying possibility of denying the unvaccinated access to areas of society – the basis for a greater level of social control.

The expansion of surveillance has led many to compare such developments to the Chinese ‘social credit’ system, which collects information on a wide variety of activities to penalise ‘unsocial’ behaviour and reward those who play by the rules. For example, a postgraduate student can be refused a mortgage if he or she is found to have plagiarised their dissertation. Similarly, writing unacceptable articles critical of government policies can result in being refused access to a flight or a bank loan… or being arrested. In March, Donald Trump Jr tweeted that ‘authoritarian leftists want a Chinese-styled social credit system here in America’.

While such sentiments might be overblown, the broader context is one where Chinese-style solutions to social problems are being looked on favourably. Many commentators have been impressed by China’s comprehensive approach to lockdowns and contact tracing, while others look on with envy at Chinese manufacturing capacity. Perhaps, as some have alleged, the pandemic has revealed fatal weaknesses in more traditionally ‘laissez faire’ Western societies. If so, could the West ape some of China’s more authoritarian social policies? Or are such tactics a response by governments, like China, that cannot build social cohesion and cultural values through the usual democratic channels?

If technology seems to create the basis for widespread surveillance and control, is the answer less technology? Are the government and tech businesses going to monitor our every movement and penalise us when we do wrong? Should we distinguish between monitoring by the state and data harvesting by private businesses? What are the positive uses of contemporary technologies and data collection? Are we witnessing the rise of a Chinese-style social-credit system or is that irresponsible fear-mongering?