Social Trust. Tracetogether Tokens. Making a more trusting community.
Thoughts inspired by TraceTogether and Whatsapp
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Hi!
2021 is having an interesting start. Aside from the drama happening in the US Senate, two other topics have been coming up repeatedly in my conversations.
First, the revelation that TraceTogether data may be used in criminal investigations. Second, that Whatsapp will be sharing data with other Facebook products. Some friends have already stopped using one or both apps.
Trust is an issue in both cases. Singaporeans trusted in statements that TT data would only be used for contact tracing. The change in stance was a betrayal of that trust. For Whatsapp, rather than a betrayal of trust, people simply do not trust that Facebook takes user privacy seriously. I see many express displeasure even without fully understanding the scope of data sharing.
Why is trust important to society?
Societies that trust more, do better.
Countries with higher levels of social trust experience greater growth rates and living standards. If we did not need to be so guarded against others, we can redirect that energy to more productive things. We could also collaborate with others to achieve greater effects.
My first time in Berlin, I realised that there were no gantries at the train station. My friends and I recalled our International Sale of Goods professor explaining the difference between Civil Law in Europe - which assumes people are honorable, and the Common Law in Britain - which assumes people are dishonest barbarians who will cheat if they can. A train station with no gantries saves time, but may be exploited (perhaps by budget conscious, common law originating university students).
I can think of many instances when more trust would be helpful. Less monitoring of employees and giving them freedom to do their best work, letting our neighbour help water our plants when we go on holiday, trusting that the durian seller is really giving you a good fruit.
Institutions must be examples of trust
If we trust others to do what is right, then we are more likely to do the same. A common appeal I hear from colleagues when I advise on compliance is that “our competitor is not complying anyway”. If we do not trust others, then we justify our own bad behavior out of self-preservation.
Our institutions thus have to act as the best examples of trust, otherwise, we can only expect less social trust between business or individuals. I would have thus preferred that the government stood firm on their earlier statement that TraceTogether data only be used for contact tracing, and to remedy the gap in data usage later on using legislation. This was a missed opportunity to strengthen public trust.
Technology’s influence on social trust
Human interaction, the experiences of negotiation and cooperation, are essential to us learning when and how to trust others. Technology in itself is neutral, it could give us more options to increase or avoid human interaction.
Technology could empower trust by making it easier to communicate and connect. It could also help to improve trust by verifying identities or certificates.
However, I find that technology is more often used to avoid human interaction. There is endless media to consume alone. Various platforms exist to commoditize transactions such as buying food into an optimised flowchart of clicks, diluting the relationship between customer and shop. Anonymity allows us to behave with reduced repercussions. As an introvert, I welcome these options, but I realise I cannot get too comfortable with them or my ability to trust will weaken.
What can we do to increase social trust?
I wondered what we can do as individuals to build a more trusting society. Hoping that people naturally become more altruistic and trustworthy is too idealistic. Instead, I think a possible path is to incentivise honesty. Eventually, it might naturally become ingrained into human dna.
Reward honesty
We can influence the world around us by valuing trustworthy behavior.
An interesting parenting thought I once read was that we celebrate a child’s physical or cognitive milestones, but not their ethical ones, when a child shows traits like honesty, empathy, forgiveness, or compassion.
Likewise, we may not do enough to signal to others that trustworthiness is more important than competence. Value friends who keep their word more than those who are successful or rich. Criticise ideas that are profitable but seem dishonest. Be merciless to refuse services or benefits that are not trustworthy (in this respect I only refer to intangible beings like institutions or companies, we should still be forgiving towards people).
Be critical
It seems ironic, but it is necessary to learn to be critical and spot dishonesty before we can start trusting. The better we get at identifying and calling it out, the less incentives there are to betray trust. We can then start to trust more.
Being critical spurs action. In both situations I mention earlier, backpedalling was made once people responded. Singapore is now legislating the proper use of Tracetogether data in criminal investigations. Whatsapp is clarifying the scope of their data sharing.
We can also be critical about technology, to ask ourselves the hidden effects of each product or platform, and to use each new piece of technology carefully.
Take small risks - give others an opportunity to be trusted
Once in awhile, we can take a small risk and give even a complete stranger our trust. Donate to a stranger in need even if it might be a scam. Ask a stranger for help so they have the opportunity to do something good. Trust in the promise of someone we do not know well. Let others know that we expect their honesty, give that chance to prove they are capable of it, and let them feel they are doing something useful for others. We naturally feel good about being trusted, and it would reinforce us behaving this way in future.
What else can we do?
I’d love to hear if you have other ideas on how we can build more trust in our immediate community. What challenges do you have to trusting people?
Thanks for reading! I do hope to hear about your thoughts or ideas!
Let me know by emailing me at jameschanwz@hey.com, leave a comment, or starting a conversation on whatsapp.
For further thought
“Being right, too often, gets in the way of being generous”
- Danny Meyer