The system would include biometric tracking systems.
QUICK FACTS:
- Several European nations are pushing for a digital currency that could be used across national borders that would combine EU digital currency with identification into a single digital euro.
- NOBID’s website explains the project in a way that makes it sound like a type of social credit system similar to the one deployed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
- The program is the creation of the unelected European Commission.
NOBID’S DESCRIPTION:
- “Our focus is especially on the cross-border payments use case and our proposal is strongly aligned with the aims of the European Commission,” the group claims on its website. “The payment use case is recognized as a key use case based on several rationales, one being the potential extension to the Digital Euro.”
- “All countries in our consortium have well-established digital infrastructures. A vast majority of the population in most of the participating countries are already benefiting from eID and electronic payment solutions daily,” the group’s “About” page goes on to say. “By joining forces with some of the largest banks and financial institutions of our region, as well as some of the most advanced technology providers and largest retail groups, we believe that we have formed a strongly positioned consortium.”
- If the program goes forward in its current stage, it will likely link national bank accounts to the centralized application which in turn be used as an intermediary between banks and merchants.
BACKGROUND:
- The CCP’s similar “social credit system” rates and punishes citizens for their behavior in a way that some say is invasive to the privacy of citizens.
- According to a report by the Hong Kong Free Press, the system will “blacklist undeserving victims” and penalize critics of the CCP.
- China’s social credit system also incentivizes those who act as enforcers for the party to help them repress citizens’ speech or actions deemed unacceptable by the state.
