We can't be too far off from a China-style 'citizen credit rating' kind of system.
We aren't there yet, but consider that Facebook wants to use your social network associations in your credit score[2].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHcTKWiZ8sI
[2] http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/09/facebo...
I don't get often surprised by all that dystopian stuff, because I assume we already are quite fucked, but this one did surprise me. That's just crazy.
To be clear, I believe there is some disagreement as if this is one or multiple programs in China, but that doesn't really matter; we need to defend against the establishment of this kind of program regardless.
The trick where positive reinforcement is used to trick people into wanting to participate is utterly terrifying... because it will work. It's obvious that it will work, because it is effectively the weaponization of "high school clique"-style tribalism and carefully re-framed self interest.
But a state sponsored gamified social network where the incentives are all designed by the ruling class, and the penalties have the force of law, is pretty darn awful.
Hopefully the affected citizens prove to be as unpredictable and hard to control as others have in the past, because that's really their only hope.
It sounds like the system does not currently use politics and such, but the government would like to combine it with the existing citizen tracking system which is employer based.
And a BBC article: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34592186
I think the US system is fairly insidious as well and has more government influence than it might seem (look into "redlining" for instance and the role the government played). Creditors can know quite a bit about your private life (particularly if you significantly outside the mainstream) and I don't think it is that uncommon for individuals to share credit scores. In any case, I think it is worth considering how "social trust systems" work everywhere and not just in the worst imagininable case. It is harder to think about in the less obviously centralized cases.
European living in the US here. How do these systems assess recent immigrants who have no credit history in the US?
You will probably have to pay a rate premium unless you go through a lender such as a credit union that you have an existing relationship with. Your provable income will be your biggest asset.
As a non-US citizen, it makes sense that you will be perceived as a higher risk of absconding since you could leave the country permanently at any time.
Look at ways to establish at least some credit history sooner rather than later, as this will make things easier in the future. For example, even if you do not need a store credit card, you might get one and charge routine purchases and pay the full about each month. This avoids any extra costs and builds credit history.