{"id":86346,"date":"2018-04-12T13:26:58","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T11:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=86346"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:58","slug":"social-credit-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2018\/04\/12\/social-credit-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Earning points"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The Chinese are experimenting with a social credit system. It\u2019s as if you have to score brownie points with your future father-in-law so as to be allowed to marry his daughter, except in this case the father-in-law is the most powerful Chinese president since Mao Zedong, who \u2013 as if things weren\u2019t quite bad enough yet \u2013 is colloquially known as \u2018Uncle Xi\u2019. Based on information stored online, Chinese citizens will be awarded points when they behave well, and docked points whenever they do something Uncle Xi does not approve of.<\/p>\n

To gain a bit of an understanding of how the credit system works, just imagine that you will earn points by doing things the government allows you to do: getting a degree, socialising, watching TV shows approved by Xi. Who wouldn\u2019t like that? On the other hand, you will lose points if you engage in questionable behaviour. Once you hit a certain number of docked points, you may be barred from, say, travelling by public transport, or from getting a mortgage. In other words, for Chinese people, data transparency and transparent behaviour are not something they have a say in. They are even being monitored when they fail to stop for a red light at a zebra crossing. That doesn\u2019t sound quite so nice.<\/p>\n

For this reason, the media\u2019s articles about Xi Jinping\u2019s plans are suspicious rather than neutral. However, at the same time, they make it sound like a distant problem \u2013 not something that will ever touch us. However, here in the Netherlands, we earn points, as well, albeit on a voluntary basis. For instance, we do so by ordering things we don\u2019t really need from online shops. Without really noticing it, we give our data to shops, which store them and use them to manipulate our purchasing decisions the next time we visit their shop. Only by that point, we will have earned our points, which means we will get a five-euro discount on our next purchase!<\/p>\n

In other words, we do have a choice in what we choose to share, and we don\u2019t mind sharing things as long as we keep receiving likes for them. And when we realise our data can be abused, we will simply blame Facebook, even though we ourselves could have been slightly more reticent with regard to whom we give our data. After all, it is not as if Mark Zuckerberg ever hid the dark sides of his company. Back in 2004, he called Facebook\u2019s first users stupid idiots for entrusting their information to him. Years after the fact, he proved to be right.<\/p>\n

So we Dutch people are being monitored, just like the Chinese are. We don\u2019t really seem to care, because it allows us to keep ordering things. So the next time the 8 o\u2019clock news shows a feature on China\u2019s credit system, get yourself some popcorn and don\u2019t worry. While you watch the news, by all means go on using Facebook, apps and online shops. Just be aware there\u2019s a good chance they get their stuff from China.<\/p>\n

Marnix \u2018t Hart studies Philosophy at the EUR<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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