China Launches Single Digital Identity. And Creates New Model of Internet Control

TAIPEI – A bulletproof vest for personal information, as state media calls it. Or perhaps the ultimate tool for controlling the digital ecosystem, as others think. China has launched a new, centralized form of virtual identity. The government says it is a necessary move to protect privacy, but many fear it could become a way to silence any critical voices.

How the single digital identity system works

Developed by the Ministry of Public Security and the powerful Cyberspace Administration, the system replaces the decentralized model of user identity verification with a unified, state-run infrastructure.

No more scattered accounts, multiple registrations, repeated verifications: the idea is simple and powerful. Each user will have a single digital profile, verified via ID, facial recognition and Chinese mobile number.

Once authenticated, you will be able to automatically access all connected platforms: from the super app WeChat to the e-commerce site Taobao, from 12306 for train tickets to Douyin, the original version of TikTok. Or Xiaohongshu, the "little red book" also known in the world as the Red Note.

Voluntary use, but incentivized use

The new system officially comes into force on July 15, but already over six million users have downloaded the centralized virtual identification app. Each person is given an "internet number", a unique alphanumeric identifier, and an "internet certificate", which links this identifier to the citizen's biometric and legal data (face, identity card or residence permit, address, telephone number).

At the moment, its use is voluntary, but its use is already encouraged: 67 platforms have integrated the login with state identification. In some cases, it has already become practically mandatory. This is the case of the local services platform of the eastern province of Anhui, which has removed alternatives such as authentication via Alipay, the payment service of the digital giant Alibaba. A move that effectively forces the adoption of the centralized state system.

According to the authorities, the new system simplifies digital life, reduces the risk of identity theft and “strengthens trust in the network”. But behind the rhetoric of efficiency, there is a sensitive point: traceability. Until now, online identity management in China was entrusted to each individual platform. The new model instead allows the State to map the digital activities of each user in real time, without going through intermediaries.

For millions of Chinese, a convenience: no more codes, less fraud

For millions of Chinese, the new virtual ID will bring real convenience. No more codes to remember, less fraud, smoother access. But the other side of the coin is a drastic reduction in private space online. The government promises that personal information will remain encrypted, accessible only in specific cases and protected by the principle of “data minimization.”

But concentrating information in a single state platform creates an ideal target for hacker attacks, identity theft, and large-scale breaches. The 2022 attack on the Shanghai police database (with 1 billion stolen profiles) shows that even government systems are not inviolable: a reminder that perfect security does not exist.

When Authorities Can Suspend Internet IDs, and What Happens

With the Internet ID, every online activity, from social media posts to booking a train, can be linked to a single person. In addition to monitoring, the system potentially allows a person to be completely deactivated online with a single command. If a person is reported for “anomalous activity,” authorities can theoretically revoke or suspend the virtual ID, blocking access not only to the Internet, but to essential services such as banking, transportation, education, and healthcare. According to several researchers, the new system allows content deemed undesirable to be removed in real time, without the need for collaboration between platforms or requests for removal.

The Chinese Internet is already controlled. The Golden Shields project, launched in 1998, created what is called the "Digital Great Wall", which since 2003 has "protected" the network from unwanted external influences and from internal content deemed potentially subversive or harmful.

Control of the Internet in China

Over the years, this system has evolved into a multi-layered network: technical control with blocks and firewalls was first joined by social control with reports between users, then legal control with a series of rules on cyber security and data protection. Rules often not dissimilar, or even anticipatory, from those adopted in the West.

With the difference that at the top of the pyramid there is a political authority that has the tools to silence debates or controversies considered risky. And yet, until now Chinese netizens have always been able to carve out a significant capacity for action. Not only through the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) that bypass the Digital Wall, within which in reality many are happy to remain, but also with various forms of creativity (including memes, puns) useful for bypassing censorship but above all to influence the digital space.

All this in a continuous and implicit negotiation with the authorities. All this happens in an environment that does not eliminate debate, but channels it. Citizens can criticize individual officials, but not the central government. They can discuss local problems, but not the foundations of the political order. The relationship with the State is not only coercive: it is also contractual. In exchange for order and stability, the State grants controlled spaces of expression, leaving creative margins within well-defined ideological limits.

The risks: control of the debate, drastic reduction of dissent

There are those who fear that the new centralized virtual identity, if imposed on a large scale, will drastically reduce not only the space for dissent or criticism, but also that constant process of renegotiation. The combination of state ID, facial recognition and predictive software reminds some of the health code used during the pandemic, but more sophisticated and permanent. There has also been no shortage of internal controversy.

Lao Dongyan, a law professor at the prestigious Tsinghua University, likened the system to “installing a surveillance device on every individual’s online activities” in a post on Weibo that was later removed and Lao’s account was suspended for three months. Others have highlighted the risk of total user profiling and political use of the system to punish or deter activists and minorities.

The Communist Party and the “gelatin nailed to the wall”

In the period between the announcement of the innovation and its entry into force, the government has insisted on the increase in efficiency and security, with a hint of rhetoric: the centralized system would remove user data from the exclusive availability of "greedy" large private companies. The rectification campaign against Chinese Big Tech, launched in autumn 2020 with the blocking of the stock exchange listing of Ant Group and the "forced silence" of super manager Jack Ma, has also served to operate a strong centralization of power over data, of which the entry into force of the new state ID is the latest and most obvious symptom.

Trying to control the Internet “is like trying to hang Jell-O on a wall,” said Bill Clinton in March 2000. Not only has the Communist Party succeeded, but it has also reshaped the digital space in its own image, imbuing it with its own sovereignty.