China Is Testing A National ID System Based on WeChat

Even as Indians continue to protest the intrusion of Aadhaar in every day life, Red china is moving ahead with a plan for a national identification of a different kind.

WeChat users in Red china volition shortly be able to use the app as a state-issued ID card, according to a Financial Times written report (Paywall). The system is being piloted in Guangzhou, where users tin can link their identities to the app using facial recognition technology. This initiative is set to be rolled out across the country in January, ahead of the Chinese New Yr in February.

WeChat can be used as national ID in China

The organisation does non supersede a government ID carte, merely tin be used in its stead to verify your identity. In its most basic form, one tin perform tasks such as logging in to Net cafes. But subsequently a second in-person verification, users can use it like a typical ID carte du jour. For example, prospective business organization owners tin can get their startups registered by using the app.

Verified users will be able to practise perform these tasks by past scanning their faces with their phones, with an artificial intelligence system authenticating them instantly. CNET reports that this AI can authenticate identities with an error charge per unit of just one per cent, which goes upwards to fifteen per cent for humans.

It is likewise believed to eliminate basic forms of identity theft which may otherwise laissez passer nether the radar, since users don't need physical possession of their ID cards, and can instead only verify themselves using the app.

Convenient every bit it sounds, there are some obvious privacy concerns every bit this substantially removes any notion of anonymity when using WeChat, which is the default messaging app for Communist china, and is known to share user data with the Chinese government.