[Powerofmene]

This is scary to think about. Imagine if private companies provided our government information and the totality of our communications and purchases, or even content of private conversations or prescriptions that you filled determined a “trust level” and that this factored into whether we were accepted by a college or determined if we were eligible for loans etc. This would change the course of each life without question.

[jlgaddis]

Imagine it? It is already being done, although not to the extent it is being done in .cn.

[geggam]

I think we are closer than you would imagine. Work in the marketing industry then shift over to master data management.

There is little companies do not know about you and the govt is 1 of the largest consumers of the data.

[Powerofmene]

I understand but it is not currently used to determine things like who may have a right to attend college or ..... it is the “trust level” determination based on the aggregate information compiled that really scares me.

[hux_]

You are talking as if people (whatever their status in the food chain maybe) currently without access to information are making fantastic decisions.

What happens in reality is they fill in the blanks of missing info, based on their biases(everyone has them - just take a psyc 101 course), trusting the wrong sources and methods. And all this cascades and chaos of its own.

Are the Chinese going to fuck up and make mistakes? Most definitely yes. Are these fuckups going to be greater than what is currently unfolding in self certified "enlightened" democracies? No idea. But it's not as open and shut as people like to think.

Just as the negatives will surfaces the positives will too. And those positives won't be discovered in countries without these systems in place.

[analyst74]

You mean the credit system we have here in US, which allows you to borrow money from banks at a low interest rate, buy a car/house with little down payment, or even rent a place without having to prepay 6 month rent?

Yeah, I think every country needs it.

[Powerofmene]

And then when we have a change in control in our governments administration the rules also change, as does the formula for calculating this rating. We will have a never ending target you cannot hit regardless of how much you try....just when you think you are getting close to your target score or rating the equation changes.

[dredmorbius]

And why is it that people need to borrow money for common purchases?