Contact is taking a holiday!

A woman scans a QR code to pay bills with electronic social security card
Photo: Xinhua

China’s Ministry of Human Resource and Social Security has published a notice outlining plans to issue at least 100 million electronic social security cards throughout the country by the end of this year and to replace the already existing 1.25 billion social security card holders with electronic cards within three years. The notice stated that all cities should open mobile payment services for the e-cards and that social security card holders can apply for an e-card through 58 different Apps.

The e-card is a multipurpose, nationally unified social security card which is accepted as a recognised identity card containing all the holder’s personal information. The can card also be used for self-service enquiries, medical and insurance payments and settlements and to carryout daily financial transactions. Since they were first issued in 2018 the popularity of the e-card has been rapidly rising as it is easy to use and obtain.

The first e-card was issued in Qingdao in April, 2018. Social security card holders can link their card with the Chinese messaging app Wechat which enable users to provide their identification, payment records and other relevant and personal information to the other party or government offices.

China’s plan to include every citizen under a unified electronic social security card has drawn strong criticism from rights groups outside mainland China. Critics say that such a system can become a dangerous surveillance tool for the Chinese government and will enable it to get a tighter grip on ethnic minority regions such as Xinjiang and Tibet. Dharamshala based right said that although these cards are practical in daily life, there is still the fear of the government misusing the information to track and control individual behaviour and deny access to social benefits and service for those who are deemed punishable by the Chinese Government, reports Phayul.

A social credit system is also operated and managed through social security cards, paired with a facial recognition technology system. Citizens are given credit based on their daily behaviour: a low credit would be a red flag to numerous services such as healthcare or flight tickets, and could result in a dismissal from a high paid job. The government claims that the purpose of such system is to restore social trust and create a culture of sincerity, yet critics fear that it might be the beginning of turning George Orwell’s fiction “1984” into a reality.