Social scoring: is the West following in China’s footsteps?

László D. / Unsplash

The Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner has criticised the polarisation in Western countries and warns that it could pave the way for a social scoring system. But researchers behind a Swiss study on social scoring take a different view.

Are Western societies following in China’s footsteps? Adrian Lobsiger, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, sounds the alarm that social scoring poses a growing threat. In his latest activity report, he conveys that “democratic societies of the West” would already have the means “to turn the private and self-determined lives of their citizens which are protected by liberal constitutions into the opposite”.

Lobsiger’s interpretation of the legal framework is also surprisingly clear. Switzerland’s technology-neutral data protection law effectively bans “nationwide face recognition and social scoring”, although this ban is not formally established in legislation. When asked by Swissinfo, Lobsiger explained he had already expressed this position in a statement in May 2025External link.

What is social scoring, and could it jeopardise democracies? Read our in-depth article on the issue:

A Swiss research project commissioned by the Swiss Foundation for Technology Assessment TA-Swiss is currently exploring the risks social scoring poses to democracies. In an interview, lawyer and philosopher Johan Rochel, who is part of the team, told Swissinfo that the real danger does not lie in the concept itself but in the lack of public debate around it. He fears ignorance and a lack of awareness about social scoring among government authorities and private companies and worries that the system could be introduced quietly “through the logic of a pilot project”. 

Lobsiger’s activity report reveals a different perspective, however. The main risk, he argues, lies in the growing polarisation where one faction turns its back on the rule of law. He also raises concerns about recent developments in “more than just a few of Switzerland’s Western partner countries”, where he sees a deepening opinion gap between the “supporters of the rule of law and circles that claim they have nothing to hide”. In these circles, which he views critically, the protection of basic rights and data protection is increasingly viewed as “paternalism” or “stubbornness of an elite bureaucracy”.

Some grey areas

Adrian Lobsiger has been the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner since 2016. Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle

Lobsiger points out that under the AI legislation of the European Union, social scoring algorithms are classified as banned technologies. At the same time, he sees a different mindset in certain unnamed “Western societies” – apparently excluding Switzerland – which is determined by “an unquenchable thirst for security”. Within this mindset, people welcome the “limiting consequences of digital social control on ‘criminals’, ‘foreigners’ and ‘dissenters’” while conveniently forgetting about themselves and their peers.

Lobsiger fears that this deepening polarisation could erode individual freedoms. If such mindsets were to become the “dominant culture”, the individual should expect an “existence as an externally controlled objects of informational supremacy reaching into their innermost private lives”. And this could happen “sooner rather than later”.

Martina von Arx heads the ongoing TA-Swiss study on social scoring systems. “In principle, I think it’s a good thing that the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner is addressing the issue. There are some grey areas in our society that are dangerously close to social scoring,” she says.

When it comes to polarisation, von Arx has a more nuanced perspective. Rather than a society-wide polarisation where a majority could support social scoring, she believes that such systems are more likely to be introduced on a “voluntary or seemingly voluntary basis”. A lack of transparency and clear definition of what social scoring actually is could make this possible.

Edited by Giannis Mavris. Adapted from German by Billi Bierling/ts