6.9 Targeting and Behavioral Manipulation
115
manipulation scandal.
43 Such digital tools are rightly classified as digital weapons,
44
since they may distort the world view and perception of entire populations. They
could also cause mass hysteria.
6.10 Citizen Score and Behavioral Control
Manipulating people by “Big Nudging” (a combination of “nudging” with “Big
Data”) does not work perfectly. Therefore, some countries aim at even more effective
ways of steering peoples’ behaviors. One of them is known as “Citizen Score”
45
or “Social Credit Score”.
46 This introduces a neo-feudal system, where rights and
opportunities depend on personal characteristics such as behavior or health.
Currently, there seem to be hundreds of behavioral variables that matter in China.
47
For example, if you would pay your rent or your loan with a few days of delay, you
would get minus points. If you wouldn’t visit your grandmother often enough, you
would get minus points. If you would cross the street during a red light (no matter
whether you obstruct anybody else or not), you would get minus points. If you
would read critical political news, you would get minus points. If you would have
“the wrong kinds of friends” (those with a low score, e.g. those who read critical
news), you would get minus points, too.
Your overall number of points would then determine your Social Credit Score. It
would decide about the jobs you can get, the countries you can visit, the interest rate
you would have to pay, your possibility to fly or use a train, and the speed of your
Internet connection, to mention just a few examples.
In the West, companies are using similar scoring methods. Think, for example, of
the credit score, or the Customer Lifetime Value,
48 which are increasingly being used
to decide who will receive what kinds of offers or benefits. In other words, people
43 Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’, The Guardian
(January 4, 2020) https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/04/cambridge-analytica-dataleak-global-election-manipulation.
44 Before Trump, Cambridge Analytica quietly built „psyops” for militaries, FastCompany
(September 25, 2019) https://www.fastcompany.com/90235437/before-trump-cambridge-analyt
ica-parent-built-weapons-for-war; Meet the weaponized propaganda I that knows you better than
you know yourself, ExtremeTech (March 1, 2017) https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/245
014-meet-sneaky-facebook-powered-propaganda-ai-might-just-know-better-know; The Rise of the
Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine, Medium (February 13, 2017) https://www.fastcompany.com/
90235437/before-trump-cambridge-analytica-parent-built-weapons-for-war.
45 ACLU: Orwellian Citizen Score, China‘s credit score system, is a warning for Americans,
Computerworld (October 7, 2015) https://www.computerworld.com/article/2990203/aclu-orwell
ian-citizen-score-chinas-credit-score-system-is-a-warning-for-americans.html.
46 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System.
47 How China Is Using “Social Credit Scores” to Reward and Punish Its Citizens, Time (2019)
https://time.com/collection/davos-2019/5502592/china-social-credit-score/.
48 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_lifetime_value.
115
manipulation scandal.
43 Such digital tools are rightly classified as digital weapons,
44
since they may distort the world view and perception of entire populations. They
could also cause mass hysteria.
6.10 Citizen Score and Behavioral Control
Manipulating people by “Big Nudging” (a combination of “nudging” with “Big
Data”) does not work perfectly. Therefore, some countries aim at even more effective
ways of steering peoples’ behaviors. One of them is known as “Citizen Score”
45
or “Social Credit Score”.
46 This introduces a neo-feudal system, where rights and
opportunities depend on personal characteristics such as behavior or health.
Currently, there seem to be hundreds of behavioral variables that matter in China.
47
For example, if you would pay your rent or your loan with a few days of delay, you
would get minus points. If you wouldn’t visit your grandmother often enough, you
would get minus points. If you would cross the street during a red light (no matter
whether you obstruct anybody else or not), you would get minus points. If you
would read critical political news, you would get minus points. If you would have
“the wrong kinds of friends” (those with a low score, e.g. those who read critical
news), you would get minus points, too.
Your overall number of points would then determine your Social Credit Score. It
would decide about the jobs you can get, the countries you can visit, the interest rate
you would have to pay, your possibility to fly or use a train, and the speed of your
Internet connection, to mention just a few examples.
In the West, companies are using similar scoring methods. Think, for example, of
the credit score, or the Customer Lifetime Value,
48 which are increasingly being used
to decide who will receive what kinds of offers or benefits. In other words, people
43 Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’, The Guardian
(January 4, 2020) https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/04/cambridge-analytica-dataleak-global-election-manipulation.
44 Before Trump, Cambridge Analytica quietly built „psyops” for militaries, FastCompany
(September 25, 2019) https://www.fastcompany.com/90235437/before-trump-cambridge-analyt
ica-parent-built-weapons-for-war; Meet the weaponized propaganda I that knows you better than
you know yourself, ExtremeTech (March 1, 2017) https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/245
014-meet-sneaky-facebook-powered-propaganda-ai-might-just-know-better-know; The Rise of the
Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine, Medium (February 13, 2017) https://www.fastcompany.com/
90235437/before-trump-cambridge-analytica-parent-built-weapons-for-war.
45 ACLU: Orwellian Citizen Score, China‘s credit score system, is a warning for Americans,
Computerworld (October 7, 2015) https://www.computerworld.com/article/2990203/aclu-orwell
ian-citizen-score-chinas-credit-score-system-is-a-warning-for-americans.html.
46 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System.
47 How China Is Using “Social Credit Scores” to Reward and Punish Its Citizens, Time (2019)
https://time.com/collection/davos-2019/5502592/china-social-credit-score/.
48 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_lifetime_value.