Chinese creditors are willing to go far in using artificial intelligence to ensure timely repayment of loans. So, AI platforms with the help of such fast lending applications, like Yongqianbao and Paipaidai, steal personal data of customers, in case of non-payment to intimidate debtors and their families, writes New York Times. In recent years, people in China have been taking micro loans in the offices of online lending, like gambling. Basically, they borrow money for running costs and investing in a small business. To assess the solvency of online platform customers use AI and personal data. And often the criteria of "trustworthiness" are rather strange. So, the application Yongqianbao from Smart Finance takes into account how quickly a person dials messages on the smartphone, how often he eats fast food, what was his phone's battery charge level at the time of the loan request and whether he carefully read the user agreement. In total, about 1200 different criteria are used to make a solvency rating. Credit with the help of AI can be approved in just 8 seconds. It is not surprising that such an assessment is failing, and debtors, having borrowed loans in 30 different companies, can not subsequently pay them back. To date, more than 8,600 companies offer various forms of micro-lending, and according to the People's Bank of China, about $ 145 billion of these loans remain unpaid. Boston Consulting Group names another figure - $ 392 billion. The government does not monitor the real size of the lending rates in such offices, and they themselves rarely provide reports. Another problem associated with online credit platforms is a flagrant violation of privacy. They use personal data from their customers' smartphones without permission, and the government can not do anything about it, since all the information is already on the servers of these companies and is actively used against debtors. In Guangdong Province alone, more than a dozen applications have been identified that allow AI platforms to steal personal data from phones. For example, the application Paipaidai without permission uses the contact details of borrowers. One of them, Mr. Lin, regularly receives calls and threatening letters from the Yongsheng Outsourcing office. They say that "the company will act by any means" if it does not pay its debt Paipaidai. When New York Times journalists called the number from which messages with threats came, the person on the other end of the wire could not answer a direct question, he works in Paipaidai or in a third-party office. Obviously, Paipaidai passes the telephone numbers of non-payers to collection agencies, which is a direct violation of privacy. And Mr. Bai, the borrower of Yongqianbao, told the New York Times that as soon as he had arrears, the company began to harass the calls of his relatives. First, with the requirements to pay the debt called on the "emergency" numbers of his phone book, and then in general to all who were in his contact list. Mr.

Bai's total debt is about $ 5,000 to various online platforms, and some of them send messages stating that they can track his location by geolocation of the smartphone. Concerned about the situation, the People's Bank of China banned citizens and organizations from opening new online rapid loan platforms. And the Banking Regulatory Commission said it would fight unlicensed companies and forbid setting unreasonably high interest rates on micro loans.

Original article: AI assesses the creditworthiness of Chinese borrowers and steals their data.