This changed my opinion. I thought the controversy was unwarranted; after all it's what many people in China wants. It's good that Google doesn't follow through.
Ad companies have already been doing it for years. As entertaining as Black Mirror is, the episode featuring just such a scenario in China of being capable linking real life identities to online and offline activities for the purposes of a dystopic and a just plain shitty world is very possible. In addition, it's incredibly likely what will happen in China with the social credit system will be much worse than anything you'd see in Black Mirror.
Imagine a world where you could curb the enthusiasm of the entire population for democratic activities or activities that run contrary to state directives. Oh, you said something bad about some mundane activity. Your phone used voice recognition technology to pass that up to the state censor bot. The punitive measures taken can then be expected to occur up to and including an obligatory re-education.
"I pledge allegiance to the great firewall of China and the government of China. I will never make disparaging remarks about any state run corporation or agency, in private and especially not in public ever again."
The State panopticon: VOICE RECOGNITION CONFIRMED SAY THREE HAIL CHINAS AND CONTINUE TO INDOCTRINATION CAMP 3 FOR FURTHER RE-EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
It associates every query with a phone number, not sure what it does for desktops, street address maybe.
I think the issue it that it provides API for the government to process this data.
Demanding that Google withdraw from this project is not about "what's best for them". It's about what we are okay with. There's nothing stopping China from implementing the same stuff without help from American corporations, and they're not in any way entitled to such help, so withholding it doesn't presume anything.
The first rule of the social credit system: do not disparage the social credit system.
the minorities are the ones who will predominantly get the short end of the deal here
Would you say the same for the victims of the khemr rouge, millions killed by Stalin?
Maybe the yellow stars helped the Jewish people gather for the Sabbath? /S
Basic human rights are not relative.
Combine this with their upcoming social credit system, and you can easily see how this is proactively helping build an authoritarian panopticon dystopia.