Cautious with your personal data? Imagine living in China.

Posted in 'Neighbourhood' by Richard Catlin

27 July 2010

The Chinese Government has pledged to protect the privacy of foreigners, when they are included on the country’s census for the first time later this year.

The country’s sixth national census will take place later this year, and by all accounts is a very impressive – and quite daunting - project. With a population of around 1.2 billion (and only 400,000 foreigners) it will take 6.5 million workers around 2 months to collect the data.

The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics has said that foreigners are being included for the first time in recognition of the increasing role they play in Chinese economic and public life, and that the information will only be used for policy making, and not for any administrative action.

The foreigner version of the census will be restricted to just 8 questions, including "purpose for staying on the Chinese mainland" and "educational attainment".

In the UK, a census has been held every ten years since 1801, with the next one due in 2011, and doesn’t include foreigners.

As well as helping to shape many aspects of day-to-day life, statistics derived from census data is used in evaluating the housing, education, health and transport needs of the population. Census information is also used to build geodemographic databases – which in turn are used for a number of commercial purposes.

Together, this data can have a significant impact on important factors such as helping to assess your creditworthiness if your credit report is thin on information. It is also used to work out your pension annuity rate. Although the UK as a whole is one of the most developed countries in the World (and is relatively small), there are surprisingly large differences in life expectancy. This means that depending on where you live, the amount you receive from your pension pot each month could vary significantly.

Other, less important factors, such as the type and amount of junk mail you get are also influenced by census data.

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