REAL LIFE NEWS: FACIAL RECOGNITION USED TO LOCATE SUSPECT AT CHINESE CONCERT
by Hazed
Last issue I told you that facial recognition technology had proven to be a failure when used by the London police (read the story here: http://www.ibgames.net/fednews/2018/180520/official07.html). But a recent report says that it was used by Chinese police recently to find a wanted man from within a crowd of 60,000 concert goers.
The police said that the 31-year-old suspect, identified only as Mr Ao, was wanted for “economic crimes”. He attended a concert by pop star Jacky Cheung in Nanchang city, but was identified by cameras at the ticket entrance then apprehended by police after he had taken his seat.
“The suspect looked completely caught by surprise when we took him away,” police officer Li Jin told state news agency Xinhua.
“He didn’t think the police would be able to catch him from a crowd of 60,000 so quickly,” Mr Li, from Honggutan police station in Nanchang city, added.
My question is, did the police know that Mr Ao was going to attend the concert, or do they run facial recognition on all their cameras throughout the city, trying to match all the people seen with wanted individuals?
China is the world leader in facial recognition technology, and it regularly warns its citizens that the equipment makes it impossible for them to evade the authorities – but how much of that is true and how much is just hyperbole designed to cow the population we have no way of knowing. Either way, it’s a scary example of the surveillance society.
