Chinese App Identifies "Deadbeat Debtors" in Area, Encourages Users to Report Them

Megalith

Megalith

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A court in China has released an app through the WeChat platform that exposes “deadbeat debtors” within a 500-meter range, revealing their name, national ID number, and why they were added to the debtor list. The Higher People's Court of Hebei designed the program in the hopes that Chinese citizens would snitch on one another. "It's a part of our measures to enforce our rulings and create a socially credible environment," said a spokesman of the court.

News of the app has caused quite a bit of controversy after it was originally reported by the state-run China Daily. It is an extension to China's existing "social credit" system which scores people based on how they act in public. It's no secret that China keeps a very close watch on its citizens, but this new public shaming approach takes it one step further. The app is available through the WeChat platform, which has become immensely popular in China.
 
Eh we do the same thing here, except instead of debtors its people who were convicted of a "sex crime", or someone who was booked in a police station since that is all public record. So I am not going to get high and mighty over this.

Now if this app worked by detecting the gps locators every citizen has injected into them, then that is a new level of daaaaaamn
 
Gotta love the part about a low score being used to deny you a job. So once in debt, you are screwed as you can't get a job due to your low 'social score' due to being in debt.

sfsuphysics said:
. . .

Now if this app worked by detecting the gps locators every citizen has injected into them, then that is a new level of daaaaaamn
Click to expand...

Injected or carried, a personalized tracking device is just that. It knows where you are, who you are with, what you just ate and according to a FB patent application, will soon predict who you are going to meet.
 
Except over there a low score can F your life over. So having debt over here all the sudden public transporation isn't going to be denied to you, things like that. What china does goes way beyond anything I've seen outside of movies TV.
 
Sounds like the brown shirts, report your parents and neighbors.
 
With the forced religious detention centres and now this I get the impression China is gearing up to be one fucked up country.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Eh we do the same thing here, except instead of debtors its people who were convicted of a "sex crime", or someone who was booked in a police station since that is all public record. So I am not going to get high and mighty over this.
Click to expand...

You really think those are the same thing?
 
A major phone company has countered this with their own "anti-spy" detection app, but in the United States it is difficult because their OLED screens cannot show enough colors for a truly accurate heat map, noting it's easier in China because all you have to support is "red" as soon as you enter their country.
 
Joust said:
You really think those are the same thing?
Click to expand...
Of course they're not the same thing, one is to allow you to shun/"get even" with people who are in debt in some way, while the other allows you to shun/"get even" with people who paid their debt to society.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Of course they're not the same thing, one is to allow you to shun/"get even" with people who are in debt in some way, while the other allows you to shun/"get even" with people who paid their debt to society.
Click to expand...

I agree on the first characterization. The second, I am of two minds. It is a subject upon which rational minds may differ. For purposes here, I would suggest it's more like... Trust - but verified.
 
do the Chinese authorities know many are in debt because of medical needs ? ( it is as bad or worse in China compared to the US on this , despite them having a nationalized socialized system for healthcare)

plus there are much more predatory loaners ( loan sharks. A loan of 100 can reach 1000 in a couple of months ) in China, which has deep political and regulatory ties.

What this system does is it creates fear. And with fear, comes even more subservience to the party.
 
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