How Will China's 'Social Credit System' transform The Future of Mass Surveillance?

Everyone in China will be monitored, tracked and ranked according to their habits, interactions, behavior etc. by 2020. The cameras will follow everyone and they will be ranked accordingly. Sounds like a plot from the dystopian Sci-fi episode of 'Black Mirror’s Nosedive but it's actually becoming a reality in China by 2020. You can't escape the constant gaze of Big Brother in China. You can't do anything that violates the rules and if done, your points will get deducted.

People with low social score won't be able to live a comfortable life because they won't be able to travel, go to a restaurant or apply for any loans. Your buying habits, your social media interactions, your every move will decide your rankings in the society. If you buy alcohol daily, your points will get deducted while if you buy nappies, you will gain points. Spending more time playing video games may decrease your social score while buying books and visiting libraries may give you some bonus points.

The Social Credit System will collect data about you from various sources. Critics are already slamming this idea however it would be little early to give an opinion about the whole process, which obviously sounds like the most aggressive surveillance campaign of all-time. Social Credit System will reward citizens who follow all the rules. They will be known as Model Citizens who will have access to good jobs, restaurants, and educational institutes etc. however there will be punishments for people who fail to stay normal and boring. A low score means deprivation from luxuries like travel, food and other entertainment. A person with a low score will get low internet speed too. If Social Credit System becomes a reality, people will no-doubt try hard to maintain high scores by doing good work. There will be fewer crimes but there will be no personal privacy. Privacy will become a luxury.

 

The idea of Social Credit System could completely transform society for good but it will come at a cost of sacrificing the privacy. With every new innovation, there come lots of threats, imagine social scores getting manipulated by the rich through black markets, imagine somebody hacking into the system and wiping out the entire social system? What if the 'Social Credit System' fails to record your good habits in real-time? What if you become bored of living a regimental life and finally break free which simultaneously reduces your social score to zero. The Social Credit System will make everybody so mechanical that you have to think before doing anything in your life which will eventually make you feel suffocated. The system is already in a trial mode however it would be interesting to see after it gets implemented. It can be a game-changing model to reform society and if it succeeds, many other countries may take up the System. The future of humanity depends on your score and you will be reduced to ordinary Digits stumbling and falling to gather those brownie points.

THIS ARTICLE GOT FEATURED HERE: THE ASSAM TRIBUNE