China proposes a national internet ID system, Plus China's ultra-rich avoid risk as economic malaise deepens -- China Boss News 8.02.24

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What happened

China took another step last week in its never-ending pursuit of social control by proposing a new national internet identification system.

According to the Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China, the proposal aims to safeguard privacy and combat online fraud.

However, as the New York Times reported, the potential for such a system to provide the government with excessive monitoring power over people's online activities has raised significant concerns about privacy and freedom of expression on Chinese social media.

In one of the most widely-seen posts that has since been deleted, Lao Dongyan, a law professor at Tsinghua University, cautioned that safeguarding personal information is simply a facade Beijing’s security apparatus is using to establish routine and systematic social control.

"Ms. Lao compared the system to the Chinese government's health code app that tracked people's movements during the Covid-19 pandemic," said Times' staff who saw the post before it was removed.

Another legal scholar, Shen Kui of Peking University, expressed his concern, stating that "a centralized internet ID would make people fear using the internet."

"The potential risks and harms of a unified' internet ID' and 'internet license' are immense," he wrote.

Why it matters

How it would work

Article 1 of the proposal states that the national ID system complies with a series of controversial laws — including the Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China, the Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China, the Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, and the Anti-Telecom Network Fraud Law—that have already placed heavy restrictions on individual freedom.

Its purpose is "to implement the network trusted identity strategy, advance the construction of national network identity authentication public services, protect the security of citizens' identity information, and promote the development of the digital economy."

Article 2 describes the system as a public service that will provide online number certificates and identity verification in two forms: a combination of letters and numbers and an online credential.

An official national service platform will handle the verification and issuance of the online IDs, and China's Public Security Bureau (PSB) and National Cyberspace Administration (CAC) will supervise and manage the system.

However, under Article 3, nearly all other government departments, including civil affairs, culture and tourism, radio and television, health, railways, and postal services, will be required to integrate and manage the national internet ID system within their services.

Article 4 explicitly states that the system is currently voluntary. It also specifies that natural persons under the age of 14 must obtain the consent of their parents or guardians to obtain a internet ID.

Article 7 stipulates that major internet platforms, including social media apps and e-commerce, are 'encouraged' to access the system. Their access shall be for the limited purposes of supporting users and fulfilling obligations to protect personal privacy while verifying users' identity information in accordance with relevant laws.

The strict controls on platforms, as outlined in articles 8 and 9, ensures that personal information on the system is limited to only what is necessary for providing identity verification, thereby ensuring the security and privacy of the users when it comes to private commerce.

That said, the proposal does not contain any stipulation that would protect personal information from the state.

Bearer of international standards?

Internet users in China are already obliged to use their real names when they sign up for services, and internet service providers must collect their identity information, including identification numbers.

Even social media platforms like Weibo and WeChat have been required since 2017 to authenticate accounts using official documentation, including national identification cards.

"The Chinese government has for years exercised tight control over information, and it closely monitors people's behavior on the internet. Over the last few years, China's biggest social media platforms, like the microblogging site Weibo, the lifestyle app Xiaohongshu, and the short video app Douyin, have started to display users' locations in their posts. But until now, that control has been fragmented as censors have had to track people across different online platforms. A national internet ID could centralize it," Times' staff wrote.

Nevertheless, experts are skeptical about the stated purpose behind the new measures, suggesting potential misuse.

One Beijing-based lawyer told Nikkei Asia, "The real purpose is to exert comprehensive control over individuals' internet access rights and expression as a more stringent social control measure."

He explained that even though the government can access any personal information it desires from online platforms, introducing the ID proposal would eliminate the necessity of making an official request, giving it immediate and direct access.

Another worry is that “issuance of cyberspace certificates means that individuals' access to the internet will be cut if the authority is unhappy with their online speech or behavior,” he added.

It's also relevant to note that Beijing's aggressive use of surveillance technology has significant international implications.

Last week, MIT, Harvard, and Oxford scholars revealed the findings of their research into China's role in the global trade of oppressive AI-fueled surveillance technologies.

After compiling a database "for global trade in facial-recognition AI" spanning from 2008 to 2021, Martin Beraja, assistant professor of economics at MIT, David Y. Yang, professor of economics and director of the Center for History and Economics at Harvard University, and Noam Yuchtman, a professor of political economy at the University of Oxford identified 1,636 transactions involving facial-recognition AI, with 36 countries exporting to 136 countries.

"Our analysis shows that imports of Chinese surveillance AI during episodes of domestic unrest are indeed associated with a country's elections becoming less fair, less peaceful, and less credible overall. … Interestingly, we also find suggestive evidence that autocracies and weak democracies importing large amounts of Chinese surveillance AI during unrest are less likely to develop into mature democracies than peer countries with low imports of surveillance AI. This suggests that the tactics employed by autocracies during times of unrest — importing surveillance AI, eroding electoral institutions and importing military technology — may be effective in entrenching nondemocratic regimes," they wrote.

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CHINA'S ULTRA-RICH AVOID RISK AS ECONOMIC MALAISE DEEPENS: China's ultra-rich are bucking global trends and following a conservative investment approach "against the backdrop of a stalling Chinese economy dragged by a beleaguered property sector," CNBC reported, citing wealth management experts.