Thoughts about China’s dark side
Hey there, it’s me, John. Lately, I have been thinking politically and socially of the impact of China’s government controlling their citizens. To know more about this subject, I have read articles and watched videos about this so-called problem. This is what I have learned: The Chinese government has more than 16 provinces controlled by data mining. They do this through having checkpoints where security guards control people’s phones. If the owner has anything suspicious on their phone, their phone is immediately confiscated and their score falls. Bystander: “Hey John, what do you mean by score”? With score I mean the fact that people in some of China’s provinces are being watched and judged online. If they tell on someone, their score rises. But if they, for example, jaywalk their score falls rapidly. This score determines if they are allowed to leave the country, travel by plane, have discounts and are restricted to some zones in the country such as the marketplace. In addition, they are controlled at every check-point station by being searched in the online database. This database includes millions of people. Everything is in this database. Their height, their name, their age, sexuality, job, status and even more of that we do not know of.
So, what do I think of governments controlling their people? Well, I do support the fact that governments should have big databases of the people living in their area. I think it would be alright to collect my data for the better. But, the fact that the Chinese government judges people by these scores and restricts them from leaving their country is totally wrong and should be immediately stopped.
I would prefer them to collect my data, then IF I am a risk, meet me and then think about how to handle the problem they are facing. Anyway, also the fact that telling on people doing things wrong is wrong. An example is given as follows: Siblings telling on each other and getting rewards is exactly the same as what these provinces are doing. Where is the trust? If people can’t trust each other, teamwork can’t exist and amazing relationships can not be built. This is a huge problem as for how I see it. There was also one couple telling their story in one of the videos I watched. They spoke about a safe and trustworthy environment for their family. For some reason, these exact people are profiting from this security. But let’s accept their opinion. Of course, people are less likely to break the law, but at what price? To lose their privacy? I am going to rephrase: I don’t like being watched. This, of course, strikes against my point of supporting collecting data. But I think that there is a difference between being watched and being reported. I must admit that I can not really explain this point of my view. But somebody once said to me: “Everybody has something to hide” and I guess he is right so I repeat: Being watched is in my opinion disgraceful. Politically , maybe the opposing countries are scared of China now . Maybe they are unsure of visiting this country. But let’s look at this from the perspective of china itsself. Through this “upgrade” , they have total control of any violence or terrorist acts. But sadly there are many corrupt people in the government who profit from these circumstances differently. They blackmail people , threaten them or even put them in prison for their benefit. To add some good points for the security: By having more of a say through these cameras they can help people in need faster. Simultaneously, terrorist acts can be stopped.To summarize my thoughts: I am against data mining. Of course there are some advances to this subject but I find many more disadvantages. But what do you think of this subject? It would seriously interest me. Feel free to write it in the comments. Everybody has a different opinion.
