AlgorithmWatch. Citizen scoring in Ghana, Rwanda, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe and China. Berlin (2019). A Review, Surabaya

Abstract

Identity-management and citizen scoring in Ghana, Rwanda, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe and China introduces a new perspective on identity management and what it is used for, with the application of ‘citizen scoring’, borrowed from the Chinese social credit system, to the field of identity management. Five countries in Africa are put under a—somewhat blurred—microscope. Though of somewhat disappointing quality it is, arguably, a first, or one among firsts. ‘Citizen scoring’ may be seen as a relatively new phenomenon, but it is not, and identity management is not either. The labels are new. Among the oldest examples tools for citizen scoring we could well consider population censuses and civil registration. China’s Hokou ‘identity management system’, more than 2,400 years old, may have done its part in citizen scoring already for a very long time too. The conclusion from the reviewed paper (actually lacking in the paper) is that Tunisia has the most benign identity management system and the least citizen scoring (at least as regards the malign, intrusive and behavior recording and rating flavor), while Zimbabwe has both a decrepit identity management system and a creepy onset of new ways of measuring up citizen loyalty. This review concludes with a brief discussion of the role Parish registration played in 17th century England in support of the Poor Laws (from 2001), thereby laying the groundwork for the Industrial Revolution. The review concludes with some observations with regards to the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the work in the field of identity management in the Global South.