Is facial recognition the stuff of sci-fi? Not in China

SHANGHAI: From toilet-paper dispensers to fast-food restaurants, travel and crime-fighting, China is taking the lead in rolling out facial-recognition technology.

But while advocates warn it makes life easier, quicker and safer, opponents counter that it is another example of how the Chinese government keeps a sinister and increasingly close eye on its 1.4 billion people.

Shanghai and other Chinese cities have recently started deploying facial recognition to catch those who flout the rules of the road. Jaywalkers at some Shanghai intersections have their images flashed up on a nearby screen for public shaming and must pay a fine of 20 yuan ($3) to have it removed. And people at the crossing hardly blinked. Communist-ruled China is already one of world´s most heavily monitored societies, with estimates of more than 176 million surveillance cameras in operation. "I can accept it. The offenders are captured after all in public and I think it´s a way to enforce the law," said 42-year-old hospital worker Wu, who gave only her surname.

"However, I believe there are some people whose photos are displayed publicly who may express their concerns about this, saying their privacy was violated and worrying about their private information being misused."

Police say facial recognition is making the country safer. It has been used to snare criminals who attempt to evade justice by giving false names, and in one recent case in Qingdao, home to China’s best-known lager, 25 suspects were arrested when they turned up to a beer festival only to be identified by the technology at the entry gates.  All Chinese over 16 must hold an ID card with their picture and address, meaning authorities have a vast trove of information.

Experts say China is racing ahead of Western countries in deploying facial scanners owing to its comparatively lax privacy laws and because Chinese are used to having their pictures, finger prints and other personal details taken.

Park managers at Beijing’s Temple of Heaven went so far as to install facial recognition devices at lavatories in the imperial-era landmark earlier this year to catch toilet-paper thieves.