How Beijing is consolidating its role in the data economy
The concept of privacy in China is evolving at great speed, and tends, like everything else in that country, towards absolute centralization; the construction of an economy completely controlled by the state and where data is arguably key to that control.
Chinese technology companies, which have recently experienced sharp falls after Xi Jinping consolidated his grip on power at the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress, are trying to resist a law that as of December, will force them to share their users’ data with two government credit rating agencies, Baihang and Pudao. Both companies are the creation of former executives of the state-owned People’s Bank of China, and will use the data to create a feed of user activity that they will then sell to banks, which in turn will use it to assess loans to their customers.
The technology companies argue that they are better at managing this type of information than the two state-owned companies, who they accuse of charging abusive fees, protected as they are by the monopoly they will enjoy.
The aforementioned law is just one visible part of a growing government takeover of users’ data from WeChat to mobility, social or other types of apps. The Chinese government’s escalation of power is based on creating a digital panopticon to monitor its…
