Historically, privacy was almost implicit, because it was hard to find and gather information. But in the digital world, whether it’s digital cameras or satellites or just what you click on, we need to have more explicit rules – not just for governments but for private companies. — Bill Gates
By the end of 2020, the city of Beijing (pop. 22 million) will have adopted a program that assigns rating points to each resident based on their actions and reputations. Those citizens with higher “social credit” ratings will get “green channel” benefits. Those with lower ratings will find their lives to be more difficult.
The city will set up the system by linking data from multiple city departments. In addition to criminal records, the system will use tourism data, business data, and transportation data. Those with low scores will find that they have been blacklisted from using trains and airplanes. Reportedly, more than a dozen Chinese cities are adopting similar programs.
One can imagine how this is being sold to their public. It will be easier to catch “criminals.” The “untrustworthy” will not be able to get loans or credit (or jobs?). “Undesirables” can be kept out of of the wealthier parts of the city. And, of course, the government will claim it is not persecuting anyone because “they brought the consequences upon themselves.” Once everyone is locked into the system, the government will be able to encourage or discourage any behavior it chooses by adjusting the benefits and punishments attached to the various degrees of high or low ratings.
It is, perhaps, not surprising that a “communist” country would act in such a controlling, totalitarian way. But it is important to remember that we in the United States are not immune to such treatment. The major difference may be that while China is announcing their intentions publicly, we in the US have had our privacy invaded secretly. Even worse, we seem to give up our privacy willingly — for that popular new app or the latest credit card.
For the supposed “convenience” of voice activated lights, music, and internet, many Americans have voluntarily purchased a device that “listens in” to what is being said in their homes. This device is, of course, internet connected and has, of course, already been hacked in such a way that an unknown person can eavesdrop into your home. The company behind the device has claimed to have “fixed” the hack, but the point is that recording your voice, and keeping track of your personal interests, is not a “bug” in the device; it is the purpose of the device.
Even if your device is not hacked, the manufacturer is still keeping a record of every interaction you have with the device, and is using the data to create a profile of you that they can sell. In the internet age we have come to expect that advertisers are collecting information on us, but who else is? And just what information do companies have about us? Do we even care? Or are we just resigned to the idea that we cannot do anything about the situation?
Americans would be alarmed if our government, like the Chinese, used our personal data to create a “social credit” score, to determine who was “trustworthy” or “undesirable.” Yet many of us seem perfectly fine about our corporations doing the very same thing. We do not have to wait for systems to be put into place to control our behavior with rewards and punishments. They are already controlling us with advertising, slogans, and lies that are now tailored specifically for each individual. The more information you have about someone, the more power you have over them. It becomes easier to control and manipulate them. The loss of privacy that we have allowed to happen is now leading directly to the loss of agency.
I don’t need to remind Latter-day Saints of the importance of agency. The problem is that many of us have been taught to see government as the problem and to ignore the fact that, in America, it is the corporations, the “secret combinations” “which are built up to get power and gain” (Ether 8:23), that are the real danger. Since knowledge is power, perhaps we ought to take greater care about the amount of personal information we give to those combinations.
And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed. (Ether 8:22)
Sources: “Beijing to Judge Every Resident Based on Behavior by End of 2020,” Technology, Bloomberg News, November 21, 2018.
“Amazon Alexa: Does the AI listen to me all the time?” The Week, August 14, 2018.
Picture: The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), and the film versions (1956 and 1984) of the novel, had posters like this around the city (London). This version, of course, has had the generic “Big Brother” face replaced with that of Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook. Similar pictures can be found on the internet with the face of Obama, Trump, and others.
Imprimis has a new article in the November publication titled “Should We Regulate Big Tech?” by Luigi Zingales of the University of Chicago. He compares the Internet applications to the production of automobiles. Both eventually because of the proliferation had to be regulated for safety. This is written from a conservative perspective and appears to be one place where left and right would gain by more competition and lean regulation.