
All Carrots and No Sticks:A Case Study on Social Credit Scores in Xiamen,Fuzhou - yarapavan
https://medium.com/berkman-klein-center/social-credit-case-study-city-citizen-scores-in-xiamen-and-fuzhou-2a65feb2bbb3
======
yarapavan
A detailed look into China's famed social credit system by Berkman Klein
Center for Internet & Society at Harvard.

1\. scores are computed using models like FICO (credit worthiness)

2\. scores b/n 0–1000

3\. scores computed based on “Big data” - basic data, +ve credit, notices, bad
credit.

4\. Scoring models are akin to standard "FICO"

5\. Activities that boost score: \- on time contribution to social security,
insurance \- volunteering \- donating blood \- using public transport \-
separating waste \- work as teachers/doctors/public interest areas

6\. Quantifying social behavior is at the core of the system. Algos used are
far from mature or proven

7\. No ML/AI models used

8\. App-based/WeChat interfaces

9\. Score benefits: \- deposit free access \- discounted access \- priority
access to services. 0\. You lose points by breaking law \- Minor (5-10) \-
Moderate (15-20) \- Serious (30-50) \- Extreme (100-150)

11\. Who can levy deductions? \- Traffic Police \- Common Reserve Fund \-
Urban Mgmt Committee

12\. No direct penalty for low score

~~~
Up7JRmd
> 12\. No direct penalty for low score

This is false. The direct penalties are listed in the very "benefits" section.
Let's rephrase some of these:

9\. Score penalties - deposit restrictions - higher charges - delays when
accessing service.

------
dawg-
>The scores are voluntary

For now.

>people’s scores are not impacted at all by data from the private sector.

Totalitarian governments operate on the ideology that the state is _total_ \-
there is no such thing as life outside the state. Of course they don't care
about the private sector, because the notion of private life (both in China
and elsewhere) is on its way to extermination.

>What makes up ‘positive credit’ is the most subjective

This is the fatal flaw. The government has no choice but to be the arbiter of
truth - they must turn arbitrary categories into measurements of individuals'
values to society. It will never be otherwise and that's why social credit is
doomed.

