The state of technology today allows unprecedented information-gathering which creates a treasure trove of information about us for marketing, law enforcement, and perhaps even nefarious purposes. The explosion of “smart” items and other technology on the market allows businesses, the government, employers, and criminals to constantly monitor you. The National Security Administration’s Utah Data Center located in Bluffdale, Utah has the security equivalent of Area 51 and similar access ( ie., no public access.) They say it can hold the amount of data equivalent to the Library of Congress every minute. George Orwell’s famous book, “1984” predicted a surveillance State in which people could be monitored at any time. Research China’s Social Credit System which relies on massive surveillance of the people in order to grant privileges to those who behave in a “socially acceptable” way and deny privileges to those who do not. Citizens are monitored and surveilled in everything they do and are given a social score that can change daily.

Give at least 2 examples of actions by citizens in China that can cause them to lose social credit points.

Do you think this could happen in the United States? Why or why not?

Are there any U.S. internet or privacy laws or anything else in place to protect American citizens from a social credit system? If not, what could be done to prevent it from happening?