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LDG2

LDG2 FYP – Gamification of Trust: HKUST Social Credit System

FYP Proposal

Gamification of Trust:

HKUST Social Credit System

by

WONG Siu Fai, LAO Haoran, AGARWAL Anish and MENDOZA John Paul

 LDG2

Advised by

Prof. LAO Dage (老大哥)

Submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for COMP 4982

in the

Department of Computer Science

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

2020-2021

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LDG2 FYP – Gamification of Trust: HKUST Social Credit System

 Date of submission: September 18, 2020

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LDG2 FYP – Gamification of Trust: HKUST Social Credit System

Table of Contents
1 Introduction........................................................................................................................4
1.1 Overview 4
1.2 Objectives 7
1.3 Literature Survey 9
2 Methodology.....................................................................................................................14
2.1 Design 14
2.2 Implementation 17
2.3 Testing 19
2.4 Evaluation 21
3 Project Planning................................................................................................................22
3.1 Distribution of Work 22
3.2 GANTT Chart 23
4 Required Hardware & Software........................................................................................24
4.1 Hardware24
4.2 Software 24
5 References.........................................................................................................................25
6 Appendix A: Meeting Minutes..........................................................................................27
6.1 Minutes of the 1st Project Meeting 27
6.2 Minutes of the 2nd Project Meeting 28

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LDG2 FYP – Gamification of Trust: HKUST Social Credit System

1 Introduction

1.1 Overview
Standardized Scoring Systems

In the 20th Century, retail banks in western countries began using credit scores to quantify the

degree of risk in lending money to clients. These personal credit scores are usually based on a

combination of factors, like a person’s debt repayment history, amount of debt relative to

credit limits and how long he or she has had credit [1]. Similarly, standardized tests, like SAT,

TOEFL and IELTS, have become a vital part of universities’ selection process for student

admission. Thus, we can see that in today’s digital era, more and more institutions are using

standardized scoring systems to rate people for various purposes. Although many people

argue against such systems, the reality is that they will probably only become more and more

prevalent and sophisticated in the future.

Gamification

In recent years, more and more software applications have been incorporating game principles

or game-design elements to improve user engagement. This is called “gamification.” It has

been used in military, business, education and other areas.

Social Credit Systems

In recent years, the Chinese government has been developing a Social Credit System (社會信

用體系) for Chinese citizens [2] that uses gamification to rate its citizens in terms of their

trustworthiness in various areas. Pilot schemes have already been implemented in different

forms in several large cities in China. Citizens can earn points for what the government

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LDG2 FYP – Gamification of Trust: HKUST Social Credit System

considers to be good behavior, such as helping take care of disabled people and donating to

college funds for poor students [3]. They can also lose points for certain types of behavior that

the government considers to be bad, such as financial fraud, malicious evasion of bank debts

and insider trading [2]. Higher scores can merit some rewards or being put on a redlist for

things like discounts on energy bills and higher interest rates at banks, and lower scores can

cause some penalties or being put on a blacklist for things like securing loans or traveling on

airplanes and trains [3].

China’s ZTE Corporation has helped Venezuela develop its own social credit system, which

allows Venezuelans to use their “fatherland cards” to receive subsidized food and health care

[4]. Germany is also considering having a social credit system in the future [5]. Thus,

although China is the current leader in the implementation of social credit systems, it appears

that the world is watching and that other countries will eventually follow its lead.

Social Credit in Education

The China State Council has announced that it wants qualified universities develop social

credit theory and promote social credit management disciplines. The intention is to include

the establishment of credit management majors and relevant courses, as well as research and

graduate training [2].

Technology to Combat COVID-19

In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in China, the Alipay Health Code application is

being rolled out nationwide and is already in use in 200 cities [6]. The app assigns a color

code — green, yellow or red — that indicates users’ health status. After users fill in a form on

Alipay with personal details, the software generates a QR code in one of these three colors. A

green code enables the user to move about unrestricted on public transport. Someone with a

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LDG2 FYP – Gamification of Trust: HKUST Social Credit System

yellow or red code may not be allowed to use public transport. The software developer says it

uses big data to draw automated conclusions about whether someone is a contagion risk.

Similar technologies are being discussed in the U.S., like “wellness passes” and “digital

health passports” [7] and “contact tracing technology” [8]. Regardless of whether these

technologies are effective or not or whether they are helpful or harmful to individuals and

society in the long term, they seem to be gaining momentum, especially with Bill Gates,

Apple and Google behind them [7,8].

Such systems could one day be merged with the other systems – like credit systems in western

countries or the social credit system of China. Since China is the leader in the implementation

of a lot of many new technologies, it may well be beta testing social credit systems and digital

health passports for the rest of the world.

Although, no plans have been announced yet for a social credit system or digital health

passport system in Hong Kong, these systems are likely to arrive sooner or later. Therefore, in

our final year project, we are developing a social credit system for the HKUST community,

including students, faculty, staff and all family members living in campus housing. But it is

only a proof of concept.

Our hope is to better understand:

 how gamification of trust works

 how a social credit system might be designed and implemented in an equitable manner

 the pitfalls of gamification of trust

 what life might be like for people who (for whatever reason) find themselves to be

considered “untrustworthy.”

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LDG2 FYP – Gamification of Trust: HKUST Social Credit System

1.2 Objectives
The goal of this project is to design and implement a small-scale social credit system for

members of the HKUST community. Our system will use gamification to rate students,

faculty, staff and family members living in campus housing in terms of their trustworthiness

in various areas.

To achieve our goal, we will mainly focus on the following objectives:

1. Build a database that consolidates social credit data and facilitates data sharing between

university departments as well as government agencies.

2. Develop a credit sharing system to collect information from various university

departments.

3. Develop a blacklisting system that includes blacklists (for bad behavior) to motivate

compliance with existing behavioral codes and redlists (for good behavior) to motivate

community members to go beyond their normal responsibilities to enhance campus life.

(It’s called a blacklisting system, because China’s Social Credit System focuses on

penalties more than rewards, since most laws are made for law breakers.) Being on either

a blacklist or redlist will have varying time durations, like one week, one month, one year

or permanent.

4. Develop a punishment and reward system that will enable the university to penalize

those community members with bad credit records and reward those with good credit

records. Both punishments and rewards will have varying time durations, like one week,

one month, one year or permanent. We will think carefully how to make this system fair.

5. Incorporate COVID-19 testing and vaccination incentives. Due to government

promotion of COVID-19 testing and vaccination, we will incorporate incentives for

HKUST community members to take the tests and get the vaccinations. Although we do

not believe that these tests and vaccinations are necessarily effective or safe, we will

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LDG2 FYP – Gamification of Trust: HKUST Social Credit System

incorporate penalties for those who for whatever reason opt out and possibly link these

penalties to one or more blacklists. This is not because we think that such penalties are

appropriate, but because we are realistic and see them as highly likely in the future [6,7,8].

Although opting out is a legitimate personal choice, it will most likely result some degree

of inconvenience to those who do so. Thus, this feature will help us observe how people

who opt out respond and adapt to restrictions in their lifestyles and activities.

6. Develop a user interface (UI) for community members. This UI will be web-based and

user friendly. It will allow community members to check their personal social credit

scores and see if they or other members are on any blacklists or redlists.

7. Develop a UI for administrators. This UI will also be web-based and user friendly, and

it will allow administrators to manage community members’ social credit data.

The biggest challenges we expect to face will be developing the credit sharing system to

collect information from various university departments and designing a fair punishment and

reward system. To address these challenges, we will work closely with the Academic Registry

Office (ARO) and other departments, and we will carefully study the implementation of social

credit systems in China.

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1.3 Literature Survey


Punishment and rewards have been used by parents and people in authority for thousands of

years. Children and people under authority tend to dislike punishment and like rewards, but

both punishments and rewards are nevertheless part of every family, every institution and

every society. To understand digitized and gamified social credit systems, we studied three

systems in China that have already been implemented and tested. These are discussed below.

1.3.1 Suzhou Social Credit System

The Suzhou Social Credit System Construction Plan (苏州市社会信用体系建设规划)has

been in development since 2014 [10]. It focuses on implementing measures punishment

of untrustworthy natural persons in Suzhou City. It is based on existing laws, regulations,

standards and contracts, and the goal is to somehow establish of a culture of integrity

and the promote the traditional virtue of integrity. Using reward and punishment

mechanisms, it is designed to improve the integrity awareness and credit level of the

whole society. The website for the system is shown below.

Figure 1 - The Suzhou Social Credit Center website, https://credit.suzhou.gov.cn/

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The first phase included the development of a Credit Information Basic Database and

Service Platform, an honesty network, a data exchange front-end subsystem, a data

processing subsystem, a business management subsystem, a credit service subsystem, a

corporate credit database and a natural person credit database. It is connected to the

provincial credit information center and the data of 26 municipal departments. More

than 13.3 million pieces of corporate credit information were cleaned, covering more

than 360,000 industrial and commercial households and more than 560,000 taxpayers.

The natural person credit information database covers 13 million people and contains

more than 44 million records in 35 categories.

The work is being carried out by eight provincial-level credit management

demonstration enterprises and 126 municipal-level enterprises. It has established and

opened 78 project information and credit information sharing offices in the field of

engineering construction, and it has released 23,625 project information items and

304,000 project credit information items. So far, 500 cases bad behavior of legal persons

have been reported, and employee misbehavior cases have totaled 125. The entire

project has successfully built multiple networks for data exchange that interface with

each other. This ensures automatic pushing and collection of information between

departments and municipal platforms, and it includes real-time dynamic disclosure of

project information based on project coding.

A credit service market is quietly emerging. At present, there are 18 credit

intermediaries registered with the Municipal Credit Office. They utilize credit

information to develop credit products, especially in energy-saving support projects.

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Although the system has advance significantly, certain tasks are still under development,

and some problems need to be resolved. For example, the development of departments

is not balanced, the departmental linkage mechanism has not yet been established, the

application of credit products needs to be further expanded, and the credit service

system is not yet developed. It also needs some enhancements to help Suzhou compete

better on an international market level.

The system needs to promote more government integrity, business integrity, and social

integrity. It is hoped that in cooperation with judicial credibility development, the social

credit system will promote a culture of honesty that is suitable for China's national

conditions and that reflects Suzhou's unique characteristics. For government integrity,

the system will strengthen social supervision and restraint on the operation of power

and establish a mechanism for the government to keep its promises.

For business integrity, it will focus on food, medicine and daily consumer goods,

establishing product quality integrity reports, untrustworthy blacklist disclosure,

market bans and exit systems. It will also promote credit construction in industries such

as wholesale, retail, commerce, logistics, catering, accommodation and resident services,

strictly investigating and dealing with dishonest behavior, such as manufacturing and

selling fakes, pyramid schemes, false advertising, shoddy products, service breaches, etc.

It will also include an early warning of credit risks. For financial institutions, it will

severely crack down on financial fraud, malicious evasion of bank debts, insider trading,

production and sale of fake insurance policies, fraudulent insurance and compensation,

disclosure of false information, illegal fund-raising, fraudulent foreign exchange evasion

and other dishonest acts.

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For citizens, it will also establish a blacklist system to crack down on dishonest acts, such

as tax evasion and improve taxpayers' compliance with tax laws, and it will strengthen

the standardization of price behavior and improve the transparency of pricing policies.

1.3.2 Rongcheng Social Credit Center

The Rongcheng Social Credit Center (荣成市社会信用中心) is a website with public access

to social credit information in the city of Rongcheng [11]. It has been under development for

several years, and it allows people to look up social credit information.

Figure 2 - The Rongcheng Social Credit Center website [11]

This web portal is already quite mature …

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1.3.3 Alibaba’s Séseme Credit System

Alibaba’s Séseme Credit System (芝麻信用) provides services to Alibaba users [12].

Figure 3 - The Séseme Credit website of Alibaba

This web portal …

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2 Methodology
2.1 Design
The Design Phase of the project started in early July, and we will continue working on the

following aspects:

2.1.1 Analyze social credit systems

We will carefully study three social credit systems in China to understand how they store data

and how we can easily capture it and store it in a database.

2.1.2 Design the database

Our database will consolidate social credit data and facilitate data sharing between university

departments as well as government agencies. We will design an entity-relationship schema

(ER diagram) for our database. The ER diagram will help us design a stable and efficient

database. It may include the following attributes:

• Name • Telecom scamming


• ID number • Insurance fraud
• Gender • Lying or cheating on examinations
• Birthdate • City volunteering
• Civil and criminal court records • Blood and bone marrow donation
• Failure to carry out court-ordered • Charitable contributions
judgements • Timely return of library books
• Incarceration • Other good deeds
• Repeat offences • Awards and recognition received for
• Traffic violations innovation, patents and inventions
• Violations of professional ethics • Literary awards
• Academic fraud • Heroism awards
• Patent or copyright fraud • Various “good citizen” awards

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2.1.3 Design the credit sharing system

The credit sharing system will collect information from various university departments.

2.1.4 Design the blacklisting system

The blacklisting system includes blacklists (for bad behavior) to motivate compliance with

existing behavioral codes and redlists (for good behavior) to motivate community members to

go beyond their normal responsibilities to enhance campus life. Being on either a blacklist or

redlist will have varying time durations, like one week, one month, one year or permanent.

2.1.5 Design the punishment and reward system

The punishment and reward system will enable the university to penalize those community

members with bad credit records and reward those with good credit records. Both

punishments and rewards will have varying time durations, like one week, one month, one

year or permanent. We will consult various stakeholders and think carefully how to do this so

as to balance the different views and beliefs of members of the HKUST community.

2.1.6 Design COVID-19 testing and vaccination incentives

Due to government promotion of COVID-19 testing and vaccination, we will incorporate

incentives for HKUST community members to take the tests and get the vaccinations. For

example, people who opt out may be put on a blacklist for use of the fitness center or

swimming pool. We will consult various stakeholders and think carefully how to do this so as

to balance the different views and beliefs of members of the HKUST community. During beta

testing, we will observe how those who opt out of testing and vaccination respond and adapt

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to restrictions in their lifestyles and activities.

2.1.7 Design the community member UI

The community member UI will be web-based and user friendly. It will allow community

members to check their personal social credit scores and see if they or other members are on

any blacklists or redlists.

2.1.8 Design the administrator UI

The administrator UI will also be web-based and user friendly, and it will allow administrators

to manage community members’ social credit data.

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2.2 Implementation
The Implementation Phase will include the following aspects:

2.2.1 Build the database

Based on our ER diagram, we will use My SQL to build our social credit database. It must …

2.2.2 Develop the credit sharing system

Based on our design, we will use [some tools] to develop a system that automatically collects

information from various university departments.

2.2.3 Develop the blacklisting system

Based on our design, we will use [some tools] to develop blacklists to motivate compliance

with existing behavioral codes and redlists to motivate community members to go beyond

their normal responsibilities to enhance campus life.

2.2.4 Develop the punishment and reward system

Based on our design, we will use [some tools] to develop the punishment and reward system.

2.2.5 Develop the COVID-19 testing and vaccination incentives

Based on our design, we will use [some tools] to develop mechanisms to provide incentives

for HKUST community members to receive COVID-19 tests and vaccinations.

2.2.6 Develop the community member UI

Based on our design, we will use Bootstrap to develop the community member UI.

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2.2.7 Develop the administrator UI

Based on our design, we will use Bootstrap to develop the administrator UI.

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2.3 Testing
During the development process, unit testing will be done to ensure all modules are built

correctly. System integration testing will be done after we have built all the components and

combined them into the application. We will test the database, each module and the user

interfaces.

2.3.1 Test the database


To test the database, we will …

2.3.2 Test the credit sharing system


To test the credit sharing system, we will …

2.3.3 Test the User Interface


To test the user interface, we will …

2.3.4 Test the blacklisting system


To test the blacklisting system, we will …

2.3.5 Test the punishment and reward system


To test the punishment and reward system, we will …

2.3.6 Test the COVID-19 testing and vaccination incentives


To test the COVID-19 testing and vaccination incentives, we will …

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2.3.7 Test the community member UI


To test the community member UI, we will …

2.3.8 Test the administrator UI


To test the administrator UI, we will …

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2.4 Evaluation
After we have finished all the testing, we will evaluate the system to check whether it fulfills

our objectives or not.

1. Is the database complete and always up to date?

2. Does the credit sharing system interface well with all data sources?

3. Does the blacklisting system work?

4. Does the punishment and reward system work?

5. Are the COVID-19 testing and vaccination incentives working?

6. Is the community member UI user-friendly and intuitive?

7. Is the administrator UI user-friendly and intuitive?

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3 Project Planning

3.1 Distribution of Work


Task Siu Fai Haoran Anish John Paul
Do the literature survey ○ ○ ○ ●

Analyze social credit systems ● ○ ○ ○

Design the database ● ○ ○ ○

Design the credit sharing system ○ ● ○ ○

Design the blacklisting system ○ ● ○ ○

Design the punishment and reward system ○ ○ ● ○

Design COVID-19 testing and vaccination incentives ○ ○ ● ○

Design the community member UI ○ ○ ○ ●

Design the administrator UI ○ ○ ○ ●

Build the database ● ○ ○ ○

Develop the credit sharing system ○ ● ○ ○

Develop the blacklisting system ○ ● ○ ○

Develop the punishment and reward system ○ ○ ● ○

Develop the COVID-19 testing & vaccination incentives ○ ○ ● ○

Develop the community member UI ○ ○ ○ ●

Develop the administrator UI ○ ○ ○ ●

Test the database ● ○ ○ ○

Test the credit sharing system ○ ● ○ ○

Test the blacklisting system ○ ● ○ ○

Test the punishment and reward system ○ ○ ● ○

Test the COVID-19 testing and vaccination incentives ○ ○ ● ○

Test the community member UI ○ ○ ○ ●

Test the administrator UI ○ ○ ○ ●

Perform integration testing ● ○ ○ ○

Write the reports ○ ○ ○ ●

Prepare for the presentation ● ○ ○ ○

Design the project poster ● ○ ○ ○

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● Leader ○ Assistant

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3.2 GANTT Chart


Task July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr
Do the literature survey

Analyze social credit systems

Design the database

Design the credit sharing system

Design the blacklisting system

Design the punishment and reward system

Design COVID-19 testing and vaccination incentives

Design the community member UI

Design the administrator UI

Build the database

Develop the credit sharing system

Develop the blacklisting system

Develop the punishment and reward system

Develop the COVID-19 testing & vaccination incentives

Develop the community member UI

Develop the administrator UI

Test the database

Test the credit sharing system

Test the blacklisting system

Test the punishment and reward system

Test the COVID-19 testing and vaccination incentives

Test the community member UI

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Test the administrator UI

Perform integration testing

Write the proposal

Write the monthly reports

Write the progress report

Write the final report

Prepare for the presentation

Design the project poster

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4 Required Hardware & Software

4.1 Hardware
Development PC: PC with MS Windows 10 or later
Minimum Display Resolution: 1024 * 768 with 16 bit color
Server PC: PC with 1TB hard drive
 

4.2 Software
MySQL For our database
JAVA, JavaScript, PHP Programming languages

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5 References

[1] B. O'Shea. "What Is a FICO Score?" https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/

finance/comparing-credit-scores (accessed 27 Aug. 2020).

[2] China State Council. 国发〔2014〕21 号. 14 June 2014. "国务院关于印发社会信用体系

建设规划纲要(2014—2020 年)的通知 (Notice of the State Council on the issuance

of the Outline of the Social Credit System Construction Plan (2014-2020)." Available:

http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2014-06/27/ content_8913.htm

[3] A. Ma. "China's controversial social credit system isn't just about punishing people —

here's what you can do to get rewards, from special discounts to better hotel rooms."

Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-

credit-system-how-to-get-rewards-2019-1 (accessed 19 Aug. 2020).

[4] A. Berwick. "Venezuela is rolling out a new ID card manufactured in China that can

track, reward, and punish citizens." Reuters. ttps://www.businessinsider.com/

venezuela-id-card-tracks-citizens-like-china-2018-11 (accessed 20 Aug. 2020).

[5] C. Schaer. "Germany edges toward Chinese-style rating of citizens." Handelsblatt Today.

https://www.handelsblatt.com/english/politics/big-data-vs- big-brother-germany-edges-

toward-chinese-style-rating-of-citizens/ 23581140.html (accessed 20 Aug. 2020).

[6] P. Mozur, R. Zhong and A. Krolik. "In Coronavirus Fight, China Gives Citizens a Color

Code, With Red Flags." New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/

03/01/business/china-coronavirus-surveillance.html (accessed 27 August 2020).

[7] GreatGameIndia. "Trust Stamp – Bill Gates Funded Program That Will Create Your

Digital Identity Based On Your Vaccination History." https://greatgameindia.com/bill-

gates-vaccination-based-digital-identity/ (accessed 20 Aug. 2020).

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[8] J. Guynn. "Apple and Google release coronavirus contact tracing technology for public

health mobile apps." USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/

2020/05/20/apple-and-google-release-coronavirus-contact-tracing-mobile-app-

technology/5229556002/ (accessed 20 August 2020).

[9] Socialcredit.triviumchina.com. "Understanding China’s Social Credit System."

http://socialcredit.triviumchina.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Understanding-Chinas-

Social-Credit-System-Trivium-China-20190923.pdf (accessed 25 August 2020).

[10] CreditChina.gov.cn. “苏州市社会信用体系建设规划(2014~2020 年)(Suzhou

Social Credit System Construction Plan (2014~2020) ).”

https://www.creditchina.gov.cn/zhengcefagui/zhengcefagui/

difangzhengcefagui1/201807/t20180730_122008.html (accessed 31 Aug. 2020).

[11] Credit China (Shandung, Rongcheng). 荣成市社会信用中心 (The Rongcheng Social

Credit Center).” http://www.rccredit.cn/ (accessed 31 Aug. 2020).

[12] Alibaba. "芝麻信用 (Séseme Credit)." https://www.xin.xin/#/home (accessed 31 Aug.

2020).

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6 Appendix A: Meeting Minutes

6.1 Minutes of the 1st Project Meeting


Date: May 25, 2020
Time: 11:00 am
Place: Room 3666
Present: Siu Fai, Haoran, Anish, John Paul, Prof. Lao
Absent: None
Recorder:John Paul
 
1. Approval of minutes
This was the first formal group meeting, so there were no minutes to approve.
 
2. Report on progress
2.1 All team members have read the instructions of the Final Year Project online and have
done research for the topic.
2.2 All team members have done some research on China’s social credit system.

3. Discussion items
3.1 Prof. Lao said that the goal of project is basically to try to develop a small-scale social
credit system for the HKUST community, including students, faculty, staff and all
family members living in campus housing. It is only a proof of concept. There are no
plans to actually implement such a system.
3.2 The project plan needs to include a list of the main tasks, who will work on each task
and a GANTT chart.
3.3 Prof. Lao showed us a few examples of pilot systems that are already in use in
Mainland China and suggested that we choose three and analyze them closely.
3.4 He also gave us some reading materials to understand social credit systems and the
goals of the China State Council.
3.5 He recommended that we try to find the best development tools available.
3.6 He said that we should try to arrange meetings with ARR and other departments to
gather the data needed for the database.

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3.7 All four team members will be having internships this summer and won’t be able to
spend much time on the project.
3.8 Prof. Lao said that that is okay, but we should try to meet at least once per month as a
team and try to start the literature survey.

4. Goals for the coming week


4.1 All members will begin to come up with a project plan, including a list of the main
tasks, who will work on each task and a GANTT chart.
4.2 All members will try to study and discuss the examples of pilot systems that Prof. Lao
showed us that are already in use in Mainland China, and we will try to choose three
to analyze closely.
4.3 We will begin to read the materials provided by Prof. Lao and do some research to
understand social credit systems and the goals of the China State Council.
4.4 We will begin to look for development tools.
4.5 Siu Fai will contact ARR to see if we can set up a meeting about gathering the data
needed for the database.
 
5. Meeting adjournment and next meeting
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 noon.
The next meeting will be at 11:00 am on May 29th at the Learning Commons.

6.2 Minutes of the 2nd Project Meeting


Date: May 29, 2020
Time: 11:00 am
Place: Learning Commons
Present: Siu Fai, Haoran, Anish, John Paul
Absent: Prof. Lao
Recorder:John Paul
 
1. Approval of minutes
The minutes of last meeting were approved without amendment.
 
2. Report on progress
2.1 All members have begun to read the materials provided by Prof. Lao and do some
research to understand social credit systems and the goals of the China State Council.
2.2 All members have begun to look for development tools.

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2.3 Siu Fai tried contacted ARR to see if we can set up a meeting about gathering the data
needed for the database, but the person in charge is on annual leave.

3. Discussion items
3.1 Siu Fai said that he isn’t really excited about this project, because it’s kind of scary if
this ever happens in Hong Kong. Anish agreed, but Haoren said not to worry about it.
A pilot scheme is already in use in his hometown. John Paul said that the thirteenth
chapter of the Book of Revelation tells us that some kind of global control system will
eventually be implemented in countries all over the world, and if people are
blacklisted from the system they won’t be able to buy or sell things. It will be back to
bartering for those people who opt out, so this project could help us prepare for those
days and understand how it might work.
3.2 Siu Fai suggested that we switch topics and just develop a VR game. Haoren said that
since Prof. Lao is his father’s younger brother, we should give the social credit system
a try. Prof. Lao has always been kind to him and even helped him come to HKUST,
and he has had really good experience in the development of the social credit system
in Suzhou, so we should be able to learn a lot from him.
3.3 Anish said that he’s okay with the social credit system topic, since India will probably
get a social credit system like China’s in the future. John Paul said that the Philippines
is slow to adopt new technology, but President Duterte is quite friendly with China, so
it’s probably coming eventually to the Philippines – but probably only in cities. He
suggested that we just consider it to be a good learning experience, even if we don’t
really like the idea. After all, it’s only a proof of concept. Siu Fai finally agreed.
3.4 All team members will be having internships this summer, we won’t be able to do
much or meet face to face, but we can still do some work and meet on Zoom.

4. Goals for the coming month


4.1 All members will begin to come up with a project plan, including a list of the main
tasks, who will work on each task and a GANTT chart.
4.2 All members will study the examples of pilot systems that Prof. Lao showed us that
are already in use in Mainland China, and we will try to choose three to analyze
closely.
4.3 We will read the materials provided by Prof. Lao and do some research to understand
social credit systems and the goals of the China State Council.
4.4 We will try to look for suitable development tools.
4.5 Siu Fai will contact ARR again to see if we can set up a meeting about gathering the
data needed for the database.
 

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5. Meeting adjournment and next meeting


The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 pm.
The next meeting will be at 20:00 on June 26th via Zoom.

6.3 Minutes of the 3rd Project Meeting


Date: June 26, 2020
Time: 20:00
Place: Zoom
Present: Siu Fai, Haoran, Anish, John Paul
Absent: Prof. Lao
Recorder:John Paul
 
1. Approval of minutes
The minutes of last meeting were approved without amendment.
 
2. Report on progress
2.1 All members have begun to come up with a project plan, including a list of the main
tasks, who will work on each task and a GANTT chart.
2.2 All members have begun to study the examples of pilot systems that Prof. Lao showed
us that are already in use in Mainland China, and we decided to closely analyze the
Suzhou Social Credit System, the Rongcheng Social Credit System and Alibaba’s
Séseme Credit System.
2.3 We have been reading the materials provided by Prof. Lao and have done some
research to understand social credit systems and the goals of the China State Council.
2.4 We have tried to look for suitable development tools.
2.5 Siu Fai again contacted ARR about information for our database and was told that we
need to talk to Ms. Regina Yip, who manages the Student Information System.
However, Ms. Yip is currently on leave until July 5th.

3. Discussion items
3.1 Haoren suggested that we add COVID-19 vaccines to the system, since many
governments are planning for vaccinations, and China is one of the leaders.
3.2 Anish said that Bill Gates has been pushing vaccines for many years, and he wants to
decrease the world’s population, because his father was into eugenics and supported
Planned Parenthood. Anish said that many existing vaccines actually contain
neurotoxins, like aluminum and mercury, and often harm people. For example, in the
US in 1980, children were only required to get nine vaccines in some states, and the
autism rate was only one in 10,000; but in 2017 some states required dozens of

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vaccines, and the autism rate was one in 36! And many doctors and scientists are now
saying that vaccines simply should not include these neurotoxins.
3.3 John Paul added that some of the vaccines also include tissue from aborted babies,
which is disgusting. Doctors who give these are either ignorant or complicit in
promoting neocanibalism.
3.4 Siu Fai said that if China is making the vaccines, he doesn’t want to be their guinea
pig.
3.5 John Paul said that the COVID-19 vaccines may even be worse than existing vaccines,
because some actually modify a person’s RNA, which is like the software that controls
the DNA database. This is transhumanism and destroys what our Creator designed. It
therefore cannot be pleasing to our Creator, so we should choose to opt out.
3.6 Anish agreed. He said that if Bill Gates and China are working on it, he’ll just say,
“No thank you.”
3.7 John Paul said that he thinks that they are working together behind the scenes, since
both the US and China have been working on bioweapons for many years. The entire
pandemic has become a good excuse to implement a lot of new technology and
medical products that are quite profitable for I.T. companies and Big Pharma.
3.8 Siu Fai said that it has also allowed governments to have more power over the people.
We are all essentially now living under medical martial law to some degree.
3.9 Haoren said that he hasn’t heard any of this yet and cannot understand why nobody in
the government or WHO has mentioned these things.
3.10 Anish suggested that Haoren do more research on the topic. There is a lot of
information available online, although some videos have been removed. One good
documentary is called Plandemic. He also said that Neil Z. Miller has a good book
called Critical Vaccine Studies that summarizes 400 important scientific papers on the
dangers of vaccines.
3.11 Haoren said that even if all these things are true, we cannot stop the momentum of
these things. The WHO and many governments are behind it.
3.12 John Paul suggested that we just include some social credit point deductions for
people in our system who opt out of the vaccines. It shouldn’t be a big deal, and it can
help us understand how social credit systems work. It’s just a proof of concept. We
don’t have to necessarily agree with the way points are given or deducted.
3.13 Haoren, Anish and Siu Fai all agreed.
3.14 Regarding project responsibilities, Siu Fai will be the leader for analyzing the social
credit systems and designing, developing and testing the database. Haoren will be in
charge of designing, developing and testing the credit sharing system and the
blacklisting system. Anish will be in charge of designing, developing and testing the
punishment and reward system and the COVID-19 vaccination incentives. John Paul

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will be in charge of designing, developing and testing the community member UI and
the administrator UI; he will also write all the reports.

4. Goals for the coming month


4.1 John Paul will begin to type up the introduction and project planning sections of our
proposal report.
4.2 All members will closely analyze the Suzhou Social Credit System, the Rongcheng
Social Credit System and Alibaba’s Séseme Credit System.
4.3 We will try to look for suitable development tools.
4.4 Siu Fai will try to set an appointment with Ms. Regina Yip of ARR, who manages the
Student Information System to see if we can gather student data needed for the
database.
 
5. Meeting adjournment and next meeting
The meeting was adjourned at 21:15 pm.
The next meeting will be at 20:00 on July 26th via Zoom.

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