A proposal by the Chinese government to issue individual online identifiers for the general public has triggered severe concerns pointing out that authorities could use this system to further tighten the already strict social control protocol in China on Friday, Nikkei Asia reported.
The upcoming measure in China would use the National Network Identity Authentication (NNIA) as a trial application, which has already launched in app stores earlier this year. The app will obtain a cyberspace ID composed of letters and numbers along with a “cyberspace certificate” which will be used as authentication on all internet platforms in the country.
The Nikkei Asia report claimed that China, unlike many other countries, already requires its internet users to enter their mobile numbers connected to identities and other personal information while signing up for online services in the country.
The draft was floated by the Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), calling it a move intended to “protect personal information security” by “minimizing the excessive collection of personal information by Internet platforms.”
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Lester Ross, an official of the Beijing office of a US law firm WilmerHale, while explaining the law said that “The draft would allow government regulators to collect personal information without sharing it with Internet platforms, addressing some popular concern over excessive data collection and privacy protection while government regulators continue to have access to real identities.”
Notably, to obtain a cyberspace ID through the authorized app, users would need to upload their ID card, scan their face to verify their identity, and link their account with a phone number.
Lao Dongyan, a Tsinghua University law professor, made a series of critical posts on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of X, stating that “The real purpose of the proposal is to tighten the control of individuals’ online speech and behavior.” She added that protecting personal information is just a feint, at least not the main purpose,” Lao said. The Nikkei Asia report, however, claimed that all her posts have now been censored by Weibo.
In one post, the professor mentioned that the ID would enable the authorities to collect all traces individuals leave on the internet, including browsing history, and the cyberspace certificate would be made using the internet as a licensed privilege that requires approval.
Although the Chinese state draft of the move claims that the identifiers would be granted on a “voluntary basis,” Lao does not believe the same. Instead, she claims that the Chinese government once also said the facial recognition systems now ubiquitous in the country would be voluntary, too.
The Nikkei Asia report claimed that China had begun requiring real-name registration for mobile phone numbers in 2010 and started nationwide real-name registration for all internet services in 2017. Currently, more than one billion internet users in the country handed over personal information to online platforms, which includes ID numbers, names, phone numbers, and facial biometric features.
The Nikkei Asia claimed that it had talked with three Chinese lawyers belonging to Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen, all of whom agreed that Lao’s assessments could be true. However, they demanded that their names must not be revealed.
According to the same Nikkei Asia report, the Beijing-based lawyer said, “The real purpose is to exert comprehensive control over individuals’ internet access rights and expression, as a more stringent social control measure.” He also added that the government can already obtain whatever personal information it wants from internet platforms, and implementing the ID proposal would remove the need to do so. Instead, they could simply access anyone’s online activity directly after this.
The lawyer also predicted that “the issuance of cyberspace certificates means that individuals’ access to the internet will be cut if the authority is unhappy with their online speech or behavior.” The lawyer was also skeptical of the justification of protecting personal information.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Newsx staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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