Keeping Track

 Keeping Track by Bill Keller

Many years ago, the Chinese government began paying US big tech firms to develop a system to literally track and be in control of EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE 1.4 BILLION PERSONS IN THEIR COUNTRY!

Also, approximately 40 million packages are handled daily by FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL that can be tacked virtually from the moment they leave your hands until the moment they are delivered to any destination in the world.

Obviously, we have mechanisms that accurately track massive numbers of items. While the Chinese have not yet put a tracking code on each one of their citizens, they are able to fairly accurately keep track of their 1.4 billion citizens in a massive data base via a computer program that assigns every one of their citizens a social credit score. This social credit score has a profound impact on the daily lives of Chinese citizens.

Here are some of the things that affect that score. Being a Christian or part of any faith group impacts a person’s score negatively. Other things that have a negative impact are having unpaid debts, playing excessive video games, being a critic of the government, not keeping your home or business clean, playing loud music, and breaking any laws.

Helping your social credit score are things like taking care of elderly parents, being a law-abiding citizen, performing charitable efforts, and supporting the Chinese government.

While much of this information is accessible through public records, it is obvious much of it is the type of information that can be known only by personal observation which is acquired in any repressive regime through government spies. These spies are people you would never suspect, but they are tasked by the government with reporting the things they see to those within the government who are keeping track of each citizen.

So, what is the impact on a person of having a poor social credit score? Based on their score they can be banned from using public transportation. They can be banned from flying. They can be prohibited from leaving the country. They can be banned from being able to check into a hotel. It can be impossible for them to get a decent job. Their internet connection can be slowed way down. They can become social outcasts.

Think for a minute about our own country. Here we have our FICO score, or our credit score. This is not something YOU initiated. As a matter of fact, it is not something you have any control over. It is virtually impossible to avoid acquiring a FICO score unless you don’t exist.

You may not think about your FICO score unless you are trying to buy a home, a car, a washing machine. It is a score that follows you throughout your entire life, and again, is critical if you ever try to get credit to buy anything.

Many people think the government controls the FICO score, or the credit reporting agencies. The fact is, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, are the main three credit reporting companies and they are private businesses over which the government has no real control. Although these companies have put in place procedures for people to challenge their credit score, doing so is a long, tedious process that will test your patience.

At this point you may be saying, “Well, this is interesting, but so what?”

Here is the so what. US based big tech companies put together the computer programs the Chinese government has been using for several years now to assign EVERY ONE OF THEIR 1.4 BILLION PEOPLE A SOCIAL CREDIT SCORE, and there will be some sort of consortium of private companies, just like Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian in the credit reporting world, to use this existing computer infrastructure to assign every person in the US a social credit score whether you want it or not!

There are unconfirmed reports that it is already happening. People are already being assigned social credit scores, even though they don’t even know what it is or how it will be used.

This type of a “score” would be incredibly valuable for employers, insurance companies, colleges, businesses and organizations that would pay a firm, just like business pay the big three credit reporting agencies, to have your social credit score and the factors that make it up.

My guess is that it would be made up of the incredible volume of existing public information such as public records that are accessible regarding your criminal history if any, your credit history, your driving record, school and medical records, and so much more. There are tons of “investigative” websites where you pay $30 or more to literally find out virtually everything there is to know about a person. THESE DATA BASES ALREADY EXIST!

So utilizing just current existing data bases of public records, a company could end up assigning a person a social credit score. Obviously, how they determine that number, how they weigh information, all of that really will be left up to the company that puts this together.

Interestingly, the equipment that can produce this kind of information about each individual can also be used to control voting machines.

Do you think it’s already being done?