Digital dictatorship

[Andi]

It's about the digital social credit now tested in China. Basically, you earn or lose points based on your choices and obedience to the established authority.
A good credit earns you trust in being able to rent, buy and have jobs..etc.
Ultimately however, say a journalist talking the truth against the established belief will be put on the black list where he/she won't even be able to buy even a train ticket let alone rent an apartment.
You can see where this is going.

 

[nicklebleu]

Well, I find it interesting that only China is ever mentioned in this respect, as if we didn’t have the same in the West. Of course it is not as openly and blatantly implemented as it is in China. But the end result is pretty much the same.

 

[Chad]

Well, I find it interesting that only China is ever mentioned in this respect, as if we didn’t have the same in the West. Of course it is not as openly and blatantly implemented as it is in China. But the end result is pretty much the same.

Indeed. And the West is unashamedly rolling it out, albeit under guise of commerce and 'safety'. Below is an article detailing how Chinese 'inspired' smart technology has been installed in a city in Darwin, Australia. The tech will track citizen's movements, collect data, and catch criminals, apparently. Although that in itself is worrying considering the current social media 'Digital Gulag' trend. At least China is more open about it's real intentions.

China's 'Smart' surveillance tech arrives in Darwin, Australia


Will Zwar
NT News
Tue, 09 Apr 2019 03:12 UTC







© Glenn Campbell
City of Darwin GM for innovation , growth and development Josh Sattler as Darwin council are nearly finished installing smart street lights and smart park lights.

DARWIN council will use Chinese inspired surveillance technology to gather data on what people are doing on their phones and to put up "virtual fences" that will instantly trigger an alert if crossed.

The concept for the "Smart technology" comes from Shenzhen and has seen facial recognition surveillance to create a controversial social credit system where people earn or lose points based on the way they behave.

Council's Innovation, Growth and Development Services general manager Josh Sattler said the poles, fitted with speakers, cameras and Wi-Fi, would allow council to gain data on how many people walk on what footpaths and where they use certain websites and apps in the city.

"The artificial intelligence program will be watching, we won't be," he said. "We'll be getting sent an alarm saying 'there's a person in this area that you've put a virtual fence around' ... boom an alert goes out to whatever authority, whether it's us or police to say 'look at camera five'."

The CCTV component of the poles will be rolled out by Anzac Day with the SmartCity platform to be finished by the end of financial year.

Mr Sattler said Darwin would be the first city in Australia to adopt the technology.

"At the moment we're going off whoever screams the loudest and sometimes that doesn't represent the full voice of the community," he said.

"It's about having the data to make the informed decisions and we can get benefits for the rest of the community."

Mr Sattler said the next six months would see major changes to the technology and local businesses could be the big winners.

"(It will tell us) where people are using Wi-Fi, what they're using Wi-Fi for, are they watching YouTube etc, all these bits of information we can share with businesses ... we can let businesses know 'hey, 80 per cent of people actually use Instagram within this area of the city, between these hours'," he said. "What does that tell a business? Get on Instagram between these hours, put up new posts, you'll connect with a lot more people."

Charles Darwin University law lecturer Dr Jenny Ng said people can have a technology friendly environment if they learn how to use it safely and have a better understanding of the different levels of privacy.

"It's only fair to tell the public if the public wifi, for example, is less secure than a personal wifi," she said.

"In such cases, if you want to have a highly secure network with high privacy features on the Internet, you will have to use your personal wifi which employs such features."

Dr Ng said the purpose of the Smart techology wasn't for penalising pedestrians as had been seen in Shenzhen.

"Their intentions are different, they want to track your every move and come up with a social credit system," she said. "We don't have that system here, I don't think we're going to have it here anyway."

[Sure, it's totally different in the West... Met police chief backs facial recognition technology that doesn't work 98% of the time]


Instead, CCTV could act as it did in other parts of society.

"We already use (CCTV cameras) in places such as banks, it's to create safety systems and we don't object to it ... because we know it creates a safety system."


Comment: As with most technology, the real worry lies with who's operating it and for what purposes:

 

[Chad]

The following video shows how facial recognition software is being trialled in the UK. In this instance it was mounted on a van in a busy street and people were scanned while going about their daily business. One man chose to cover his face claiming he didn't want to be filmed and was immediately pulled up by the police who then fined him £90 (~$70) for 'public disorder'.

Although, as noted in the article below, this isn't the first time this technology has been used. It seems that the police like to trial this kind of thing at events, concerts, football matches, airports and so on, because, for the most part, people are much less likely to refuse to cooperate, at the risk of missing their concert. And maybe they'll associate it with a positive feeling.

An article on SOTT which covers the video has some interesting information - i've kept the pertinent bits and snipped the rest: Big brother Britain: Facial recognition cameras deployed in London, man fined for covering his face -- Sott.net

Big brother Britain: Facial recognition cameras deployed in London, man fined for covering his face








It comes just weeks after it was claimed the new technology incorrectly identified members of the public in 96 per cent of matches made between 2016 and 2018.

The cameras have been rolled out in a trial in parts of Britain, with the Met making its first arrest last December when shoppers in London's West End were scanned.

Officers previously insisted people could decline to be scanned, before later clarifying that anyone trying to avoid scanners may be stopped and searched.

It was first deployed by South Wales Police ahead of the Champions League final in Cardiff in 2007, but wrongly matched more than 2,000 people to possible criminals.

The technology made incorrect matches in every case during two deployments at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford last year, according to Big Brother Watch. It was also reportedly 96 per cent accurate in eight uses by the Met from 2016 to 2018.

Eight people were arrested during the trial on January 31 this year, which took eight hours, but just three were a direct result of the technology.

A 15-year-old boy identified by the recognition cameras was arrested on suspicion of robbery but released with no further action.

'While anyone who declined to be scanned was not necessarily be viewed as suspicious, officers used their judgement to identify any potential suspicious behaviour.'

Last December, a suspect was arrested by the Metropolitan Police during a trial of the facial recognition technology among Christmas shoppers at Leicester Square in London's West End.

Another man was stopped due to the technology, but found not to be the man the computer thought he was - although he was arrested over another offence.

A mandate they have produced to guide officers states: 'It is right and appropriate to bring people who are unlawfully at large to justice as they may otherwise pose a threat of safety to the public through the commission of crime.

'This approach is less intrusive than other methods of tracing wanted persons.


Comment: How is surveilling a population as they go about their daily business less intrusive than tracking the actual criminal?


'It is less resource intensive which will save police time and money and allow police to concentrate resources on other priorities.'

The Home Office has said the system can be an 'invaluable tool' in fighting crime, while the National Police Chiefs Council said it could disrupt criminals but insisted any rollout must show be effective within 'sufficient safeguards'.


Comment: So a rollout is in the works, it's just a question of sufficiently convincing 'safeguards'.


The technology was first deployed by South Wales Police ahead of the 2017 Champions League final in Cardiff.

That trial led to the technology wrongly matching more than 2,000 people to possible criminals.

Police and security services worldwide are keen to use facial recognition technology to bolster their efforts to fight crime and identify suspects.

But they have been hampered by the unreliability of the software, with some trials failing to correctly identify anyone.

The Metropolitan Police have already used the cameras at the Notting Hill carnival and other forces have used them at football matches.

And pop star Taylor Swift used the software at a concert in the US to identify stalkers in the crowds.

'This is a turning point for civil liberties in the UK. If police push ahead with facial recognition surveillance, members of the public could be tracked across Britain's colossal CCTV networks.

'For a nation that opposed ID cards and rejected the national DNA database, the notion of live facial recognition turning citizens into walking ID cards is chilling.

'This China-style mass surveillance tool is the very antithesis of British democratic freedom and police using it on our streets sets a dangerous example to countries around the world.

She added: 'We've never seen police make anyone remove religious clothing around facial recognition but we have seen them stopping people wearing scarves during winter and hooded coats.'

https://twitter.com/x/status/1128993035340124160

(if you don't have Twitter you should be able to watch the video in the article posted on SOTT)

Some of the points raised in the article claim that this tech frees up resources however considering it's alarming error rate, it cannot replace traditional policing, not yet anyway. Resources are tight because government imposed 'austerity' following the banking crisis a decade ago has decimated public services. In the case of policing:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1129084040403984385

Another contributor to the rise in crime is likely related to ever increasing inequality in the country - added: inequality which is, in large part, a result of the corruption by those in power:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1128201083732594689

And in a video from New Zealand police are 'visiting' people who, following the Christchurch mosque massacres, have been posting 'anti-immigration' material online. The resident states clearly that it's around 10am on a Sunday morning. Note that the officer is unwilling to have this 'chat' on film and when asked he seems to confirm that the resident will be receiving another visit at a later time, although the exact details or nature of the visit aren't mentioned.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1128083061080567813

Pretty chilling (although not surprising) imo.

 

[Mike]

This Youtuber read a message she received from a viewer about what they plan to implement in Europe (and I suppose everywhere in the West) in terms of cars, driving, digital IDs, and other related notes. Pretty concerning and an apt title for the video... Figure as we move forward and they try to implement more of their plan (C's indicated that they have implemented 60% in the US and will get to around 80% of what they want to implement), which includes depopulation, things will get crazier, destabilizing, and more upsetting. Also figure, even if we can't stop the implementation that knowledge protects when applied...

She provided a transcript in a comment and it is quoted below.

Here is the entire message in English:
I work in the IT department of a very large, renowned insurance company - headquartered in Germany. Unfortunately, what I tell my circle of friends and relatives about my projects, they dismiss as "conspiracy theory". Many people don't see or understand what will happen to us with this great digitalization revolution - especially the possible dangers/misuse. Here is a small excerpt of the pilot projects we are working on

Topic: Digitized car (pilot projects are already underway): In the next 10 years it will no longer be possible to insure "old hams"/ ”old car” (I drive one like that too).

You'll be forced to buy a "digital" car (otherwise you won't get insurance). These cars are "online" 24 - 7 and in real time in touch with the insurance/traffic authorities/remote maintenance/surveillance/authorities etc... (that's no joke!). Depending on your driving style, time/speed/driver, your insurance premium will automatically adjust. I.e. If you drive too fast/risky -> you not only pay a fine to the magistrate, but your insurance premium automatically increases. Let's register you as a night driver -> higher premium. If you have more passengers in the car -> higher premium. If your premium is not paid -> you will no longer be able to start your car.

We are already in discussions with several major automotive brands to bring a Europe-wide, standardized technical “one-size-fits-all” solution onto the market. Many people don't know that fully integrated breathalyzers (Alcoguard) will be MANDATORY in the coming vehicle generations. This means that if you are drunk, you will no longer be able to start your car. Even if you are below the "minimum alcohol limit", this data will be passed on to the insurance company and you will be penalized with a higher premium. If you are drunk beyond this limit, the relevant authorities will automatically be informed and your insurance will be canceled immediately. Transparent customer

We are also relying on the upcoming digital ID to access personal data such as health, traffic, home, etc. The background is that all the necessary customer data is already stored somewhere and as long as it does not leave the EU, everything is fine for the insurance sector with the GDPR. Nowadays, customers also carelessly give their OK under the “small print” that we can collect their personal data. In real time, we collect medical records, living conditions, vehicle data, etc. in the event of damage. Upcoming pilot projects are planned with credit institutions/banks to "reward" a "healthy" lifestyle and punish an unhealthy one... in which we monitor shopping behavior (temporarily limited to districts, but only a matter of time until it is delivered about individual people).

If you live in a district where a lot of unhealthy stuff is consumed -> it does affect your life insurance/pension/death insurance etc... We already check the liquidity of ALL customers, but it's still quite old-fashioned. With the coming technological advances (digital ID, digital currency) we will be able to check the liquidity in real time via interfaces with banks/credit institutions/etc..., as well as the tax circumstances of each customer.

Security: Also planned and already scheduled as a pilot project for 2025 - a cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Defense/National Security. If a vehicle is registered to a politically exposed person and there is a suspected case, this person will no longer be able to start their vehicle (it will be deactivated via remote monitoring). This applies to all private vehicles in which the politically exposed person sits (except officially registered ones e.g. police cars).

A powerful RFID chip will be built into these digital ID cards. This enables a close coupling of 10 m, but monitoring/localization with an accuracy of approx. 1000 m. This is of particular interest to the insurance company because, in the event of damage, we can more easily locate the people/acts of damage/crimes/those involved. We are already in negotiations with the “European digitalization and data protection managers”. to also be able to access this data in more detail. Justified under the name of “security”, “customer friendliness”, “digitalization”.

The background is the boom in accident insurance, whereby we are of course interested in how often, when, how and, above all, where each customer moves. Our pilot projects with the connection to AI are particularly interesting - here in ongoing cooperation with Google and Microsoft. In the next 5-10 years, if not much sooner, there will be a revolution (both in the areas of digitalization and AI) that will make the invention of the Internet look like the invention of the "pencil". This is not a conspiracy theory/joke; these are projects that we are already piloting in the implementation/testing phase in the insurance sector.

Side notes: In the coming years, owners of electric cars will be prepared to pay a battery tax instead of an engine tax. Reason: Batteries pose an increased risk (fire) and are harmful to the environment (disposal). Payment is made on a sliding scale - watt hours per kilogram. Already in are insurance for “autopilots”. Here, the higher your insurance amount, the “safer” your autopilot will act. Don't be under any illusions that the autopilot will act the same in all vehicles in the event of an accident. At every point in time we know who, when, how, why... is in the car.

 

[heinrich]

This Youtuber read a message she received from a viewer about what they plan to implement in Europe (and I suppose everywhere in the West) in terms of cars, driving, digital IDs, and other related notes. Pretty concerning and an apt title for the video... Figure as we move forward and they try to implement more of their plan (C's indicated that they have implemented 60% in the US and will get to around 80% of what they want to implement), which includes depopulation, things will get crazier, destabilizing, and more upsetting. Also figure, even if we can't stop the implementation that knowledge protects when applied...

She provided a transcript in a comment and it is quoted below.

this is not impossible and i can only hope for the planetary impact of comets as suggested by the cass. they plan digital slavery and tyranny. that they even envisage such tyranny under the pretext of safety is despicable. the safest state is the state of death. as the cass said, computers will betray us. coming new brave world. and it is not surprising this is being elaborated in germany, a nation of slaves waiting in the rain until the pedestrian light turns green at midnight and with no car in sight...i am glad to already having reached 81 years. i will leave this police society with zero regrets...

 

[Lukasz]

This Youtuber read a message she received from a viewer about what they plan to implement in Europe (and I suppose everywhere in the West) in terms of cars

And in the US the House vote preserves the kill switch mandate for new cars starting in 2026, as proposed in the infrastructure bill. The bill mandates installing equipment in new cars to monitor in-car noises, conversations, and eyes, along with kill switches to automatically turn off a car. The technology for the kill switch is AI-based and raises concerns about potential corporate and government access to monitor and interfere with personal movements.

More details in this YT video: