China is expected to begin implementing a new electronic identification system to track cars nationwide, starting July 1, The Wall Street Journal reports. Although voluntary in the beginning, the system will become mandatory at the start of 2019. While the plan is being described as helping improve public security and combating traffic congestion, others raise concern that it will lead to increased surveillance. Ben Green, a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, said, “It’s all happening in the backdrop of this pretty authoritarian government,” adding, “It’s really hard to imagine that the primary use case is not law enforcement surveillance and other forms of social control.” (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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