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China Working On Internet ID Despite Concerns

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BEIJING (Worthy News) – China’s Communist government seeks to take over the job of verification from companies and give people a single internet identification document (ID) that critics warn will provide it with even more control over people’s lives, Worthy News learned Tuesday.

China’s Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China say the proposal is meant to protect privacy and prevent online fraud.

So far, websites and apps have had to verify users using phone numbers tied to personal identification numbers that all adults are assigned.

Now, it could get more difficult under a proposal by China’s internet regulators. However, Lao Dongyan, a law professor at Tsinghua University, said protecting personal information is merely a pretense to make social control routine and regular.

Lao compared the system to the Chinese government’s health code app that tracked people’s movements during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet she claimed that her social media criticism about the proposal “was taken down.”

Another law professor, Shen Kui of Peking University, said in an online commentary that a centralized internet ID would make people fear using the internet.

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“The potential risks and harms of a unified ‘internet ID’ and ‘internet license’ are immense,” he wrote, as cited by The New York Times newspaper.

Worthy News established earlier that Beijing has already put the internet under strict surveillance, with Worthy News among the websites and outlets banned in China.

A European digital expert and entrepreneur said he nearly ended up in prison after trying to access Worthy News through the regular internet. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he still works in China.

“Suddenly, I got a text message saying that I had to report myself to law enforcement authorities in Shanghai,” 750 miles (1,207 kilometers) “away from Beijing, which I visited. I could have ended up in prison.” Worthy News independently confirmed the text message.

The European reached Worthy News through a virtual private network (VPN), which allows for a computer connection and a remote VPN server.

He told Worthy News he is working on a VPN for Christians, dissidents, and journalists that encrypts personal data, masks Internet Protocol addresses, and lets users sidestep website blocks and firewalls on the internet.

BANNED SITES

“However, my problems began when I tried to reach Worthy News and other banned sites without a VPN. Authorities blocked me after trying to access Worthy News,” the entrepreneur added.

“My bank card was ‘eaten’ by a cash dispenser. I could not make calls, including to family, and was not able to pay for anything, even not with China’s digital social media application.”

It reminded him of China’s social credit score system that can take ‘privileges’ such as traveling or buying groceries from people critical of the system, such as Christians or dissidents. “Everywhere are cameras.”

While he managed to get around the blockade through business contacts, he said, “Many ordinary Chinese people don’t have that option.”