The Social Credit System is a proposed Chinese government initiative[1][2][3] for developing a national reputation system. It has been reported to be intended to assign a "social credit" rating to every citizen based on government data regarding their economic and social status.[4][3][5] [6][7] In addition, it is also meant to rate businesses operating on the Chinese market.[8]

The Social Credit System is an example of China’s “top-level design” (顶层设计) approach. It is coordinated by the Central Leading Small Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms.[8] According to the overall "Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System (2014-2020)" issued by the State Council, the Social Credit System will focus on four areas: "honesty in government affairs" (政务诚信), "commercial integrity" (商务诚信), "societal integrity" (社会诚信), and "judicial credibility" (司法公信).[9] Media coverage has thus far focused mostly on the rating of individual citizens (which falls under "societal integrity"). However, the Chinese government‘s plans go beyond that and also include plans for credit scores for all businesses operating in China.[8]

The Chinese government wants the basic structures of the Social Credit System to be in place by 2020.[9] It is unclear whether the system will work as envisioned by then, but the Chinese government has fast-tracked the implementation of the Social Credit System, resulting in the publication of numerous policy documents and plans since the main plan was issued in 2014. If the Social Credit System is implemented as envisioned, it will constitute a new way of controlling both the behavior of individuals and of businesses.[8]

As of July 2017, no comprehensive, nation-wide social credit system exists, and very little firm information is available about how this system might work in practice.[10] There are, however, multiple pilots testing the system on a local level as well as in specific sectors of industry. One such program has been implemented in Shanghai through its Honest Shanghai app, which uses facial recognition software to browse government records, and rates users accordingly.[11] Some reports have stated that the ratings may use information gathered from Chinese citizens' online behavior,[1] but existing scoring systems run by private companies using such data (such as Sesame Credit) are still in an experimental phase.[12]

backup from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System