New Chinese ID Cards Contain Ethnicity, Religion, and More
In today’s times it seems that the George Orwell, the mind behind the book 1984 was more of a fortuneteller than an author. The Chinese city Shenzen’s 12.4 million residents are now receiving a new type of ID card based on ethnicity, religion and more.
ID cards currently list basic information based on physical appearance and little personal information. Is it really necessary for an ID card to contain work history, background, religion, medical insurance, and more? Probably not but the Chinese citizens will soon be carrying an ID card with a microchip containing all this information and more. Not only are the residents constantly under watch by 20,000 new cameras and 180,000 existing ones that are viewed by the government, police officials are now wearing GPS transmitters so they can be tracked at all times. The Chinese Public Security that developed this technology says these regulations are to make sure citizens and police are safe. But how much is too much. I believe personal information such as religion is not essential for keeping people safe.
This may be going on in Shenzen right now but don’t feel too safe, the developer of this technolody (China Public Security) is funded significantly by American investment banks and much of the means of support comes from our very own Florida. Just remember “Big brother is watching”.
1. Stevens, Tim. "New Chinese ID Cards Contain Ethnicity, Religion, and More." New York Times 08 13 2007 08 21 2007
In today’s times it seems that the George Orwell, the mind behind the book 1984 was more of a fortuneteller than an author. The Chinese city Shenzen’s 12.4 million residents are now receiving a new type of ID card based on ethnicity, religion and more.
ID cards currently list basic information based on physical appearance and little personal information. Is it really necessary for an ID card to contain work history, background, religion, medical insurance, and more? Probably not but the Chinese citizens will soon be carrying an ID card with a microchip containing all this information and more. Not only are the residents constantly under watch by 20,000 new cameras and 180,000 existing ones that are viewed by the government, police officials are now wearing GPS transmitters so they can be tracked at all times. The Chinese Public Security that developed this technology says these regulations are to make sure citizens and police are safe. But how much is too much. I believe personal information such as religion is not essential for keeping people safe.
This may be going on in Shenzen right now but don’t feel too safe, the developer of this technolody (China Public Security) is funded significantly by American investment banks and much of the means of support comes from our very own Florida. Just remember “Big brother is watching”.
1. Stevens, Tim. "New Chinese ID Cards Contain Ethnicity, Religion, and More." New York Times 08 13 2007 08 21 2007
2 comments:
Ok so, I can see where people may think this is a great idea at first glance in a time where identity theft is out of control and terrorism is big fear for a lot of people in any country. I'm curious as to what the "and more" part of the ID cards is? The card could theoretically make life a lot easier for people in China and really, anywhere if there's a lot of information on it and you can maintain all your rights despite what is on your ID card. Having your information stored all in one place could allow for a really simple docotr's visit (where I forget my insurance card pretty much every time,) or make airports a little more manageable by having the right to search someone who may have a criminal record for hijacking. I'm sure the ID card idea makes a lot of people "feel" safe, but I suppose whenever you allow your business to be placed in the hands of others, you're always subject to being judged or let-down by anyone including the government.
Just sounds too much like 1984 to me...
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