(Kitco News) – China is well known for its social credit system, which is used to keep its citizens at risk of facing public approval or restrictions on their behavior. The country is now considering introducing a similar system to manage users within the metaverse.

according to report From POLITICO, Chinese state-owned carrier China Mobile has drafted a proposal for a “digital identity system” for all users of the online virtual world, aka the Metaverse. This corresponds to ‘natural characteristics’ and ‘social characteristics’ with varying ranges. Data for personal data points such as an individual’s occupation, ‘identifiable signs’ and other attributes.

The proposal also includes a proposal to store this information “indefinitely” and share it with law enforcement “to maintain order and security in the virtual world.”

China Mobile said such a digital ID system would allow police and government officials to identify individuals who “spread rumors and disrupt the Metaverse” and punish them accordingly.

The proposal grew out of discussions between technology experts and officials of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the United Nations-run telecommunications body that sets global rules for how technology operates.

The ITU Metaverse Focus Group was launched in December and is intended to be a central forum for regulators, academics, non-governmental organizations and technology companies to negotiate standards for the virtual, immersive Internet.

The ITU plays an influential role in defining the ground rules for the world’s telecommunications and technological infrastructure, making it a hotly contested battlefield between China and the United States over the future of the Internet.

Both the Chinese public and private sectors have sought to set global standards for emerging technologies at the ITU, but Western officials have sounded alarm bells, warning that China is pushing for a government-controlled version of the Internet and telecommunications. ing.

After reviewing the proposal by experts, it was determined that the proposal risks violating the principles of privacy and freedom of connection that dominate the Internet in the Western world.

“Creating a unified digital identity system and giving each human being a unique digital identity that includes social characteristics from social media and occupation is a lot like China’s social credit system,” said Brussels. Institute senior researcher Chris Cremidus Courtney said. Tank his European friend.

The vote on China Mobile’s proposal, which was first submitted at the second meeting of the ITU’s Metaverse Focus Group in Shanghai on July 5, will be held at the ITU’s next meeting in Geneva in 2016. likely to take place in October.

Chinese organizations have submitted more proposals than U.S. and European participants, which could give China the upper hand in the long run, according to an anonymous technology expert familiar with the matter.

“They’re trying to play the long game,” experts say. “When the Metaverse arrives, they will say, ‘This is the norm.’ Imagine a Metaverse where identity protocols are set up and monitored by Chinese authorities. Is it the immersive world we want to live in?

Clemidas Courtney noted that China has expressed its intention to become the world leader in developing the Metaverse, saying, “If you want to seize the future, you will set the standards.” He added that the proposal is in line with China’s state-managed digital yuan plan.

But some warn that China’s move is weakening the ITU’s standing on the world stage. According to Matt Sheehan, a researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who has long covered China’s activities in standards bodies, China’s activities in the ITU are doing it a lot of damage.

“Chinese officials are flooding us with bad proposals, many of which are subsidized by the government,” he said. “But the result was [U.S. and European] Technology companies no longer pay attention to ITU standards. ”