---
title: "Grindr-Like Chinese App Tells You If “Deadbeat Debtors” Are Nearby"
description: "A new Chinese app tells you if any \"deadbeat debtors\" are within 500 meters — like Grindr, essentially, but for insolvent borrowers."
date: "2019-01-24"
modified: "2019-01-24"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-app-deadbeat-debtors"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "app"
  - "china"
  - "finance"
  - "social credit"
  - "the digest"
---

# Grindr-Like Chinese App Tells You If “Deadbeat Debtors” Are Nearby

![A new Chinese app tells you if any "deadbeat debtors" are within 500 meters — like Grindr, essentially, but for insolvent borrowers.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/chinese-app-deadbeat-debtors.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Tag Hartman-Simkins\</em\>*

## 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*](<http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201901/16/WS5c3edfb8a3106c65c34e4d75.html>), a [state-run](<https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2054515/communist-party-mouthpiece-quotes-china-daily-foreign-media>) 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](<https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/17/google-launches-its-first-wechat-mini-program/>) "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*](<https://www.wired.co.uk/article/china-social-credit-system-explained>). 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](<http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201901/16/WS5c3edfb8a3106c65c34e4d75.html>) \[*China Daily*\]

***More on social credit: [If You Jaywalk in China, Facial Recognition Means You’ll Walk Away With a Fine](<https://futurism.com/facial-recognition-china-social-credit>)***

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)