PROFILE
FROM Simon Denyer
China rolls out 'social credit scores' as part of total surveillance plan Simon Denyer is China Bureau Chief for the Washington Post. Photo courtesy of the Washington Post. In China, facial recognition technology is pushing the country toward complete surveillance of its 1.4 billion residents. Cameras are now in banks, airports, hotels, and even public toilets. They track where you are, who you hang out with, what you’re doing. That data gets paired with your online activity. Then you get a so-called social credit score based on how trustworthy the government thinks you are. China is assigning people "social credit scores" based on security cameras, facial recognition tech, and internet usage. Photo by Gilles Sabrie.
Is Vladimir Putin Changing the Game in Ukraine? Yesterday, as bloody violence continued to increase in Ukrainian cities, Germany's foreign minister warned that the country was on the "threshold of war." Britain's foreign secretary said Russia was creating a pretext for military intervention. Today, Vladimir Putin stunned diplomats by announcing a troop pull-back from the Ukrainian border and voicing support for upcoming elections. The Pentagon sees no evidence of troop movements yet, but Russia's President may have undercut Western accusations that he's trying to scuttle Ukraine's democracy. We hear from Moscow and Ukraine. Will European observers assist a transition from confrontation to dialogue? Has Putin's announcement demonstrated how completely he's in control? What's the lesson for the Obama Administration and superpower politics?
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