In January 2022, the UK Department of Health and Social Care, currently led by Sajid Javid, plans to launch a new app to help people make positive changes to their diet and physical activity.
As part of the pilot project, users will wear a device on their wrist that can generate personalized health recommendations, such as increasing the number of steps they take, eating more fruit and vegetables or reducing portion sizes.
Users will supposedly accumulate points for behaviors the government deems healthy, which will unlock “rewards.” The government says these rewards may include “gym passes, clothing or food vouchers, store discounts and movie tickets, or theme park tickets.”
The company, known as HeadUp, has been chosen to run a pilot scheme for the social credit system, and the government is claiming an additional £3 million, also from the Department of Health and Social Care, to provide incentives. Although in reality, of course, the £3 million comes from the British taxpayer.
HeadUp has offices around the world and the HeadUp team has more than 20 years of experience in the health technology and insurtech (innovation service development in the insurance industry) sectors. The company has partnerships with Apple, FitBit and Garmin, as well as the US military, major life and health insurers and now the UK government.
The company was founded by Glenn Riseley, an Australian who spent 14 years in the corporate wellness sector. To give you an idea of what HeadUp’s business is really all about, we’ve taken a look at some of the statements made by CEO Glenn Risely in various blog posts on the HeadUp site.
Glenn Riseley doesn’t believe that the customer is always right, and says that his company’s job is to find out what customers really need. How do they do that? By gathering as much data about the customer as possible, of course.
But Glenn says that in order to collect your data his company has to build trust and intimacy with you. He says that every data point they collect and every piece of information they offer should bring the company one step closer to you so that you share even more data with them.
Glenn also believes that the thinking should be left to the professionals and says HeadUp strives to think about people.
The UK Government’s Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, says the reason for the social credit pilot system is that he wants to ensure that “we are doing all we can to address health disparities across the country, and this system will pave the way for developing innovative ways to improve people’s lives, and will also help reduce pressure on the NHS.”
“The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is driving forward our equalization agenda for health and ensuring that prevention is a vital part of everything we do.
“This pilot project is an excellent opportunity to find the best way to inspire people to make small changes in their daily lives that will have a lasting positive impact on their health.”
But is this really what it’s all about?
In June, the government announced that it plans to ban TV ads for foods high in sugar, salt and fat that are broadcast before 9 p.m. across the UK. Among the products affected are chocolate, burgers, soft drinks, cakes, sweets, ice cream, cookies, sugary juices, crisps and pizzas.
And from the end of 2022, the previous ban will be enforced at 21:00 and TV ads for unhealthy food: breakfast cereals, yogurts, ready meals, chicken nuggets and breaded fish will only be allowed between 21:00 and 5:30 a.m. No ads for “less healthy” foods will be shown outside the regulated period.
This government now wants to control what you eat, monitor your grocery spending and your daily activities. If the government can reward you for doing what it demands of you, it can certainly punish you if you refuse to obey, especially if it creates a digital currency.
Just look at China’s Social Credit System. This is a comprehensive regulatory framework, designed to report on the “trustworthiness” of individuals, companies and government entities across China.
The exact methodology is a secret, but examples of infractions include bad driving, smoking in non-smoking areas, buying too many video games and posting false news on the Internet, specifically about terrorist attacks or airport security.
Other possible punishable offenses include spending too much time playing video games, wasting money on frivolous purchases and posting on social networks.
China has already started punishing people by restricting their travel, including banning them from flights. Authorities banned people from buying flights 17.5 million times by the end of 2018, according to the National Public Credit Information Center.
They can also clamp down on luxury options: many are banned from getting business-class train tickets and others are barred from top hotels. The list of punishments is endless and also includes preventing children from attending the best schools, and now they are trying to introduce it right under your nose in the UK.
How long before employers start requiring employees to use the new app and ask to see their diet and exercise history before offering someone a job? Most likely, bars and restaurants will end up having to also check everyone’s vaccination status before they come in, do you also have to change your diet and exercise regime in order to buy a burger?
What about treatment through the NHS, are they expected to use the app to ration healthcare and only treat those who have done well on the app by eating healthy and exercising?
The boiled frog syndrome
You could be forgiven for believing that the government has the nation’s interests at heart by introducing an app that rewards you for behavior deemed healthy, if you didn’t know that they are planning to introduce a digital identity system and a digital currency under which they are debating imposing limits on how you can use your spending.
But the problem is that plans for all three of these things have been moving forward for months.
The UK government is planning to push for the legal status of digital identities to be as recognized as driving licenses and bank statements, and they will most likely arrive in the form of a cell phone app. The means to enforce them definitively will materialize in the form of the Vaccine Passport.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England and the UK Treasury have set up a Central Bank Digital Currency Working Group to coordinate research into a possible British digital currency. Have no doubt that this system will eventually replace cash and allow the government to know what it spends, when it spends it, where it spends it and what it spends it on.
If they can ban TV ads for breakfast cereal before 9pm, what’s to stop them from imposing limits or banning what you can spend a new British digital currency on, if the government deems it unhealthy?
All the evidence is there. There is a coordinated effort around the world to introduce a digital identity and social credit system right under your nose, and it looks like both will be implemented in the UK in January 2022.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-pilot-to-help-people-eat-better-and-exercise-more
https://www.headuplabs.com/
https://au.linkedin.com/in/glennriseley
https://headupsystems.com/2021/03/30/customer-always-right/
https://headupsystems.com/2020/07/07/my-phone-thinks-im-a-prostitute/
https://headupsystems.com/2021/03/30/customer-always-right/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-57593599
https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4?r=US&IR=T
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plans-for-governing-body-to-make-digital-identities-as-trusted-as-passports
https://theexpose.uk/2021/10/26/uk-government-to-launch-social-credit-system-in-2022/
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