In season three's 'Nosedive' episode of Black Mirror, a frightening world in which people were digitally rated on their every societal interaction painted a grim picture of the future.

But though it might have looked like a far-off dystopian world, an emerging piece of technology in China doesn't look too dissimilar.

A feature in Wired sheds light on a new system of 'personal credit' in China called Zhima Credit, which is available via mobile payment platform Alipay and gives users a score between 350 and 950 based on their personal habits.

Some of the features in its algorithm seem innocent enough, like paying back debts giving you a good rating for example, but others, like the people you hang around with or things you buy determining your score, seem a little more concerning.

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And according to Wired's report, the Zhima Credit system is also integrated with the Chinese government's Supreme People's Court blacklist.

"You could imagine a future where people are watching to see if their friends' credit is dropping and then dropping their friends if that affects them," data expert Frank Pasquale said. "That's terrifying."

David Dettmann/Netflix

The company added: "Zhima Credit is dedicated to creating trust in a commercial setting and independent of any government-initiated social credit system.

"Zhima Credit does not share user scores or underlying data with any third party, including the government, without the user's prior consent."

If you're worried about it catching on here, a recent survey of Brits found it to be the piece of technology from the dystopian series that people would least like to use.

Only 7% of those polled would be willing to use it compared to the memory implant from 'The Entire History of You', which 29% would be willing to use.

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