Debtor’s Panopticon
A new app created by authorities in China tells you if any “deadbeat debtors” are within 500 meters — like Grindr, essentially, but for insolvent borrowers.
It sounds like dystopian fiction, but news of the Chinese app comes from China Daily, a state-run newspaper that says the app was rolled out by the courts in North China’s Hebei province.
Ready Debt Go
The debt-detecting app runs inside WeChat, a popular messaging service in China that supports “mini programs.”
The idea, according to China Daily, is that WeChat users will locate “debtors capable of paying their debts” and “whistle-blow” on them.
Social Credit
The Chinese app fits into the nation’s broader trend toward tracking “social credit.” Social credit is an all-encompassing score that judges citizens’ “behavior and trustworthiness” by examining everything from whether they jaywalk to whether they play music too loudly in public, according to Wired. If a citizen’s social credit score is too low, they can lose privileges, such as the ability to book flights.
“It’s a part of our measures to enforce our rulings and create a socially credible environment,” a spokesman of China’s court system said of the debt-detecting app.
READ MORE: Hebei Court Unveils Program to Expose Deadbeat Debtors [China Daily]
More on social credit: If You Jaywalk in China, Facial Recognition Means You’ll Walk Away With a Fine