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China's New 'Social Credit Score' Law Means Full Access To Customer Data (insurancejournal.com)
AnonymousCube shares this quote about China's new 'Social Credit Score' law from an insurance industry magazine:
"Companies are also required to give government investigators complete access to their data if there is suspected wrong-doing, and Internet operators must cooperate in any national security or crime-related investigation."
Note that China has an extremely flexible definition of "national security". Additionally computer equipment will need to undergo mandatory certification, that could involve giving up source code, encryption keys, or even proprietary intellectual data, as Microsoft has been doing for some time.
The article suggests businesses like insurers "will likely see the cost of complying with this new action as a disincentive to conducting business in China."
Note that China has an extremely flexible definition of "national security". Additionally computer equipment will need to undergo mandatory certification, that could involve giving up source code, encryption keys, or even proprietary intellectual data, as Microsoft has been doing for some time.
The article suggests businesses like insurers "will likely see the cost of complying with this new action as a disincentive to conducting business in China."
Will the "free world" be next?
So does this mean that even exports must have a government sponsored backdoor ?
What cost? The companies shouldn't care one way or another. The "cost" will merely be passed on...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Credit Bureaus.
The medical Information Bureau - MIB
ChoicePoint.
And every database out there that records public information that local governments have.
There are databases that HR and Lawyers use to see lawsuits. If they see that you have sued your employer - for any reason - they will ignore your application, send you the BS "You don't have the skills" email or come up with some other excuse. They can use the same databases to discriminate against who ever they like and good luck proving they broke the law.
Back in the 80s, my lawyer girlfriend said, "With someone's social security number, I can find out anything about them. It's scary." And remember, that was 30 years ago. They didn't have big data or any of the CS techniques they have now.
Meaning all that data can be used to create a hell of a dossier on someone. And it's cheap and easy.
Maybe only to snowflake internationalists that grew up in the west and simply assumed the US Constitution applies everywhere.
Newsflash: America is the biggest safe space there is. Everywhere else, it can get literally Orwellian.
I thought we liked China to treat their citizens like total shit, because we get cheap electronics that way.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
for a while there i thought it was Trump's suggestion.
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
Sounds like good money for data scientists!
If there was a smell sensor on my computer google would figure out how to use it too. They know everything.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Here in Western Canada we have already gone through the bullcrap that is Social Credit. It is an obscure and discredited economic theory that started in Alberta with Bible Bill during the depression and was a ridiculous form of government somewhat akin to a free market communism. You would think that the Chinese would learn from others mistakes instead of copying flawed economic theory. Next thing you know they will start printing digital money credits to hand out credits,,, oh wait they already do that with Walmart and other entities that buy their goods. I smell a digital melt down on the horizon for the level of nonsense economy that they will create. I knew and old lady who swallowed a spider...
But full access investigations will be limited to pederasts and copyright pirates, right? Just like the anti-terrorism laws of other countries are limited to pederasts and copyright pirates. Oh.
'The article suggests businesses like insurers "will likely see the cost of complying with this new action as a disincentive to conducting business in China."'
Let's hope!
The EOMA68 project has been shooting to reduce the cost of designing an manufacturing computing devices for the purpose of pursing freedom and liberty. The sponsors (ThinkPenguin) and lead engineer (Luke) have been working to design a standard 'computer card' standard around which devices can be designed such that one can design a laptop for which you can easily upgrade the computer's main components (CPU/RAM/etc) simply by ejecting the card. This reduces the need to design a new laptop housing as often as with traditional computers. Thus reducing the design costs as these costs can be spread out over a greater period of time. A faster laptop only requires a new computer card which is cheaper for the user then replacing the whole computer. The computer cards can also be mass produced for less than if they only worked in one laptop and that laptop has a limited run. So it brings down the cost of manufacturing key components.
The other things this does is it gives us more control. When we can choose from different companies for things like CPUs/SOCs and aren't stuck with Intel or AMD then we can begin to design out the backdoors Intel/AMD are shipping (or which we must assume are shipping based on what we know is going on with gag orders in the US and evidence from Intel/AMD about what the core software which can't be disabled does, ie remote control functionality, and yes, you might be able to disable some of this, but it was no thanks to Intel, but we still can't trust it, given we can't control everything).
The first EOMA68 computer card has 2GB of ram and a dual-core CPU. It'll be shipping in March. However the next card coming out will be more powerful with a quad core CPU with 4GB of ram. For those who bought a $500 laptop with the dual-core card it'll probably be around $120 to upgrade to the quad core card. This is assuming low quantities. The original card was $65, but can be manufactured for $20 in large quantities, so when mass produced prices will drop significantly.
Privacy will go. That's the inevitable future (you can say "inevitable" with Agent Smith accent).
The same wonderful combo: digital information that is not lost and Internet that spreads it freely faster than you can say "entropy" brings you newest Holliwood action masterpieces on the same day of premiere and it also will make _your_ information available to any suitable buyer.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
The article suggests businesses like insurers "will likely see the cost of complying with this new action as a disincentive to conducting business in China."
If there is profit to be made, they will do business in China, whatever the rules are. Remember Lenin's quote about capitalists ready to sell the rope that will be used to hang them?
I know it's behind a paywall, but the WSJ had a very interesting article about China's implementation of Social Credit:
China’s New Tool for Social Control: A Credit Rating for Everything
They are apparently having a significant amount of trouble actually implementing the system because of the sheer amount of data.
Apparently Ant (div of Alibaba) is playing a pretty big role in this, too:
A credit-scoring service by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial Services—one of eight companies approved to pilot commercial experiments with social-credit scoring—assigns ratings based on information such as when customers shop online, what they buy and what phone they use. If users opt in, the score can also consider education levels and legal records. Perks in the past for getting high marks have included express security screening at the Beijing airport, part of an Ant agreement with the airport.
remove nospam. to email!
All your base is our belong to us!!!!
When the objective is clear, as in when your population haven't got basic appliances or sufficient housing, it's much more efficient to take an engineer's approach to the problem than allowing every tom dick and harry clutter up decision making with their combined ignorance and stupidity. Look at e.g. Singapore. Autocracy is what propelled it upwards out of the marsh it was in.
Also. successful companies don't operate by popular vote either.
There comes a point when the road ahead is less clear ... and there free societies have the advantage because they can afford to try everything and keep what is good.
I'm a big fan of China in many respects, and I think their central government very often get things right - more so than many in the West. But as many sincere fans, I am not just uncritically accepting everything they do as right. In this case I reserve judgement; many things depend on how this is implemented and how it is used.
In my view, it was always obvious that something like this must turn up at some point. The unregulated internet was a lot of fun in the early years, certainly, but it is no longer all that much fun - there are too many things going on that are anything but fun, quite frankly, with scams, false news, rumour mills, organised crime, bullying, people trafficking etc, and the genuinely good things are sometimes drowning in the effluence. So it has to come to an end in some way or other - things like censorship, lack of anonymity and social credit scores are attempts at hammering out some sort of "law in the Wild West" of the internet. I'm not sure they are all good, but eventually we will settle one something that most people will find acceptable, and which will be reasonably effective.
At then end of the day, the internet is a public space, ultimately paid for by "society": the physical infrastructure etc maybe be owned by companies of various sorts, but at the end of the day, their customers pay for it and it trickles down to us (that is the only part of "trickle down economics" that actually works: all expenses are ultimately paid by those at the bottom of the pyramid game). But that being the case, the rules have to be set in such a way that they are acceptable to most people, and most people prefer there to be limits for what you are allowed to do and say.
Seriously, is Klout trying for an IPO in china, or is this just Black Mirror becoming reality?