Alma Dai-Zhao, a professor at Harvard Medical School, told NPR that in the next decade or so, it will be worth doing this kind of research for health and education. “It’s in the interest of the government of China to keep people alive,” he said, “and they need to know what’s making you sick and in what situations it might be best to keep you alive.”

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But there’s little evidence that getting more data will change government policy anytime soon.

According to The New York Times, Chinese officials are already worried about the potential for data leakage on social media. Earlier this year, Chinese authorities shut down social media accounts for more than 80 journalists, journalists from Hong Kong, and others who had published stories critical of state-run media. The government also blocked the Facebook pages for several prominent human rights activists, a move that the Hong Kong government condemned.

When asked in a phone interview whether he thought this would have an effect on China’s own policies in cyberspace, Chen said this: “I still believe people can make mistakes on social media, so let’s wait and see. I’m not sure they’ll be able to ban [anonymity] completely, that would be too much.”