Datafication, dataveillance, and the social credit system as China’s new normal
| Date | 14 October 2019 |
| Published date | 14 October 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-08-2018-0231 |
| Pages | 952-970 |
| Author | Claire Seungeun Lee |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
Datafication, dataveillance, and
the social credit system as
China’s new normal
Claire Seungeun Lee
Inha University, Incheon, South Korea
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore how China uses a social credit system as part
of its “data-driven authoritarianism”policy; and second, to investigate how datafication, which is a method to
legitimize data collection, and dataveillance, which is continuous surveillance through the use of data, offer
the Chinese state a legitimate method of monitoring, surveilling and controlling citizens, businesses and
society. Taken together, China’s social credit system is analyzed as an integrated tool for datafication,
dataveillance and data-driven authoritarianism.
Design/methodology/approach –This study combines the personal narratives of 22 Chinese citizens with
policy analyses, online discussions and media reports. The stories were collected using a scenario-based story
completion method to understand the participants’perceptions of the recently introduced social credit system
in China.
Findings –China’s new social credit system, which turns both online and offline behaviors into a credit score
through smartphone apps, creates a “new normal”way of life for Chinese citizens. This data-driven
authoritarianism uses data and technology to enhance citizen surveillance. Interactions between individuals,
technologies and information emerge from understanding the system as one that provides social goods, using
technologies, and raising concerns of privacy, security and collectivity. An integrated critical perspective that
incorporates the concepts of datafication and dataveillance enhances a general understanding of how data-
driven authoritarianism develops through the social credit system.
Originality/value –This study builds upon an ongoing debate and an emerging body of literature on
datafication, dataveillance and digital sociology while filling empirical gaps in the study of the global South.
The Chinese social credit system has growing recognition and importance as both a governing tool and a part
of everyday datafication and dataveillance processes. Thus, these phenomena necessitate discussion of its
consequences for, and applications by, the Chinese state and businesses, as well as affected individuals’
efforts to adapt to the system.
Keywords China, Deviance, Dataveillance, Data-driven authoritarianism, Datafication,
Social credit score system, Digital sociology, Critical data studies, Digital space
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
We live in an age where data are both abundant and powerful. In this data-driven society,
every online interaction or post can be stored and retrieved elsewhere. The process of
securing citizens’information and storing it in computerized databases already has a long
history; however, what is unique to China’s context is its publicly known long-term plan.
Governments are taking advantage of stored data in a more sophisticated way than before,
and China is no exception. In fact, China’s Government is a new pioneer in utilizing data and
technology as tools for governing society. It has invested capital and resources into a new
IT-backed authoritarianism, turning technology into the tool for power (Browne, 2017). The
country’s government has realized that technology is an important tool for maintaining its
desired status-quo via the surveillance of its population and cyberspace.
On the other side of this relationship, China’s population has strived to adapt the
introduction of public and private surveillance tools to their existing code of social etiquette.
“Lacie wears contact lenses, which are full of information. Her behaviors are captured and
Online Information Review
Vol. 43 No. 6, 2019
pp. 952-970
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-08-2018-0231
Received 3 August 2018
Revised 4 November 2018
Accepted 14 January 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
The author is thankful to the reviewers and editors for their constructive comments.
952
OIR
43,6
monitored by apps. Lacie’s rating was affected by how others rate her and her behaviors
ruined her life and relationship with her best friend.”When one’s social rating with others
greatly influences one’s life, a woman tries to improve her own rating to balance the scores
of her colleagues, drivers, (and) friends. Although this quote is derived from an episode of
the television series Black Mirror that aired in 2016[1], such sentiments and social
controlling are increasingly echoed by Chinese people when speaking about their everyday
lives. In 2014, a new system called the social credit system (shehui xinyong tixi), similarly
portrayed in the Black Mirror, was introduced. The system links personal financial data to
every part of an individual’s social life for the ostensible purpose of supporting economic
development, social management and problem solving (Hoffman, 2018).
Using a unique case study of the social credit system introduced in 2014[2], this research
examines how datafication and dataveillance provide the Chinese state with a legitimate
way of monitoring, surveilling and controlling citizens. Utilizing van Dijck’s (2014, p. 198)
definition, this paper defines datafication as “a legitimate means to access,understand and
monitor people’s behavior with data.”Dataveillance is defined continuous surveillance
through the use of data (Raley, 2013; van Dijck, 2014). “Data-driven authoritarianism,”or the
collection of personal data by the state apparatus as part of a social credit system, is
processed by means of datafication, and as a part of a dataveillance program. This signifies
how state-initiated datafication becomes a powerful tool for conducting dataveillance in
effort to monitor individual people, social networks, finances, work productivity and social
security. The social credit system in China is a unique case study for understanding how
datafication shapes dataveillance, and vice versa, in an age of data-driven authoritarianism.
This study uses an innovative approach to connect the personal narratives of research
participants with two complementary primary sources: policy documents from central and
local governments, and relevant media reports. As the social credit system’s development is
still in the early stages, this paper also draws on empirical research in order to examine how
people respond to this system’s integration. Specifically, a story completion method,
or a scenario-based method, was used. This method, in which participants were invited to
complete a story using their own words within 10 min, is popularly used in psychology to
elicit candid participant reactions to sensitive topics and to tap into participants’
imaginations or perceptions (Amundson, 1985; Clarke et al., 2017; Gray et al., 2017; Kitzinger,
1995; Lansky, 1968). Specifically, 22 Chinese participants were invited to create a story
based on a possible future scenario of the social credit system, to explore how people
perceive the social credit system. There are multiple reasons for using this method: first, the
nascent stage of the social credit system at the time of this study limits the pool of potential
subjects who have experienced living under such a system. Furthermore, revealing a great
number of details about the system to participants could lead to the development of
subjective prejudices about the system, which could then skew the study’s results. Finally,
due to the political nature of this issue in China, it is a difficult prospect not only for
participants but also the researcher to openly discuss it. The story completion method is,
therefore, a viable method to address the issues relevant to the study.
This paper first contextualizes this study, introducing the debate around datafication
and dataveillance through scholarship, policy and media sources, while simultaneously
illuminating the limited presence of these sources in the non-western world. This paper then
provides a detailed overview of existing policies for examining the emergence and
development of the social credit system in China. The next section introduces the research
methods used in the study, and the following section analyzes and discusses participants’
firsthand interaction with the social credit system. By utilizing the ideas of datafication,
dataveillance and data-driven authoritarianism as analytical lenses, this paper argues
that the social credit system leverages datafication in tandem with dataveillance, and by
using it the Chinese state legitimizes the monitoring, surveilling, and enacting of
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Datafication,
dataveillance,
and the social
credit system
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