torsdag 18. mars 2021

Beijing sours on facial recognition, unless it’s the one doing it

Hundreds of thousands of surveillance cameras throughout China have been hoovering up facial recognition data without notifying the people attached to the faces. Now, the companies behind the tech are finally under the microscope after a blistering recent exposé — one carried by a major mouthpiece for Beijing, the same government known for its own untrammeled intrusions into private life.

On March 15, China Central Television broadcast its annual consumer rights gala, a long-running annual special that has uncovered many high-level consumer frauds. One segment revealed that facial recognition security cameras located at chain stores nationwide have been picking up shoppers' personal information without their knowledge or consent. The revelations ignited a furious backlash against the companies. "Two characters," went one popular online comment about the findings: "wu chi (无耻)," meaning "shameless." It's another instance of grassroots pushback against surveillance tech in China, a global leader in surveillance research as well as in deployment.