West's criticism of China's credit system hypocritical: German newspaper

The mainstream German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung has said that the outrage of Western media over China's credit rating system is hypocritical, as the widespread collection of personal data is being quietly carried out in Western democracies.

A public security office in Beijing that can automatically alert police about emergencies. [File Photo: VCG]

In the West, data on what individuals are looking at online is being tracked and recorded by tech companies like Google and Facebook along with third-party companies. The European Union wants to send data to security services about rail, bus, and boat travelers. And supermarkets, retail chains, and public transport providers are tracking customers by monitoring their mobile phone signals.

The article gives an example of how this data is impacting on people's everyday lives: In the credit system in the United States, a consumer who showed an interest in electric guitars on social media had their credit rating downgraded.

The article says that "data is the new oil" for new industries and the collection of personal data is "always reaching new plateaus". This data collection is causing a backlash in the United States and Europe, but "it is enormously difficult to initiate and enforce [privacy] laws when a whole industry is as secretive as a secret service."