China has introduced a new program to compel citizens to register digital IDs.
The program, launched last month through the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), is a “voluntary” plan to “strengthen the protection of citizens’ personal information,” according to an announcement.
The program also aims to “promote and standardize the construction and application of national network identity authentication public services, and accelerate the implementation of the network trusted identity strategy,” the announcement explains.
Those participating in the program will receive a digital certificate that carries their identity information.
Several app stores have begun implementing biometric verifications, the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times reported. Users are required to undergo facial recognition and receive an “electronic network identity authentication certificate with a ‘network number,'” the outlet explained.
Chinese human rights lawyer Wu Shaoping told The Epoch Times that digital ID surveillance “cannot be done in a modern civilized country, because first of all it must respect public opinion.”
“Western societies all respect the rights of individual citizens. When public opinion is so strongly opposed, will the CCP still do it? Passing such a regulation or law? Everything is possible in autocratic and authoritarian countries, because it does not need to care about public opinion at all,” he said, “The National Internet Information Office of the Chinese Communist Party is the Cultural Revolution Office in the Xi Jinping era.”
Chinese citizens can provide feedback on the program through August 25.
The Chinese digital ID program comes as some companies and organizations have pushed for biometric scans.
Last year, the Director of Financial Services for the Poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Michael Weigand, called for “digital public infrastructure (DPI).”
Some credit companies are also looking to implement a face scan payment process.
In 2023, JPMorgan Chase partnered with biometric technology company PopID for two face scan pilot programs. The full launch of the tech is expected in 2025.
PopID is a facial recognition tool that has been used for patron check-ins and has been described as being more efficient than an app or QR code.
The tech company’s CEO, John Miller, said the partnership with JPMorgan is a “watershed moment for biometric payments as it represents the first time a leading merchant acquirer has agreed to push biometric payments to its merchant customers.”
