Archived version

Beijing may soon issue "cyberspace IDs" to its citizens, after floating a proposal for the scheme last Friday. The draft comes from the Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).

Although the policy is only open for comments and not certain to be adopted, the IDs would serve to "protect citizens' personal information, regulate the public service for authentication of cyberspace IDs, and accelerate the implementation of the trusted online identity strategy," according to a notice posted by the State Council – China's equivalent of a ministerial cabinet.

The ID will take two forms: one as a series of letter and numbers, and the other as an online credential. Both will correspond to the citizen's real-life identity, but with no details in plaintext – presumably encryption will be applied. A government national service platform will be responsible for authenticating and issuing the cyberspace IDs.

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China is one of the few countries in the world that requires citizens to use their real names on the internet. ISPs are required to collect the real names and ID numbers when customers sign up for services and, since 2017, social media sites like Weibo and WeChat must authenticate accounts with documents – including national ID.