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Facial recognition

Facial recognition
Latest news, in-depth features and opinion on facial recognition technology, its development, application and concerns over its use.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
Imagine a pair of glasses that could tell you the name and address of anyone you met. Harvard students Caine Ardayfio and AnhPhu Nguyen made them a reality in just four days. The students adapted Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and computer software to create spectacles utilising existing face recognition technology to identify people in real time, underscoring the potential for augmented reality (AR) in future. Photo: X/ AnhPhuNguyen1
Wearables

These AR glasses can tell you names and addresses of people you meet

Two students created augmented reality smart glasses that identify people they see, exposing the risks of mixing AI with facial recognition.

Artificial intelligence

Founder of Alibaba-backed AI firm named chairman at Chinese carmaker Lifan

Cybersecurity

China’s leading apps, including WeChat and Taobao, test proposed cyber ID system

Artificial intelligence

Ex-IBM scientist helms Shanghai AI Lab after death of SenseTime’s Tang

Zhou Bowen, former chief scientist of IBM’s Watson Group, has been appointed director at one of China’s top AI research institutions.

Zhou Bowen, newly appointed director of the Shanghai AI Lab, speaks at the World AI Conference in Shanghai on Thursday. Photo: Handout
China society

Opinion | How China can face up to accusations of mass surveillance

The rollback of face scanning in hotels across the country is a good start. Citizens’ concerns about privacy in sectors including finance and transport must also be addressed.

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SenseTime

Chinese AI giant SenseTime suspends trading as shares surge more than 30%

SenseTime’s shares gained as much as 36 per cent after the company launched the latest iteration of its SenseNova large language model.

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China’s Communist Party

China’s premier, top officials pay tribute to late AI visionary Tang Xiao’ou

Li Qiang, Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang among Chinese leaders paying respects to the leading facial recognition expert and SenseTime co-founder, who died Friday.

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Top Chinese officials paid tributes on Tuesday to the late SenseTime co-founder Tang Xiao’ou, who died Friday from an undisclosed illness. Photo: Weibo/SenseTime
Artificial intelligence

AI advances boost online disinformation, censorship and surveillance: report

Generative AI-based tools were used in at least 16 countries to distort information on political or social issues over the period June 2022 to May 2023, according to the annual Freedom on Net report.

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Hong Kong economy

UAE economy minister to hold talks with Hong Kong hi-tech AI company SenseTime

Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri says one reason for trip to Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong is to meet city tech firms that can broaden UAE’s oil-based economy.

X (formerly Twitter)

Elon Musk says X, formerly Twitter, will add voice and video calls

Musk says the app’s voice and video calls will work on Apple and Android devices, as well as on computers.

The X logo is seen on the account of its owner Elon Musk. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS
China technology

China to tighten the rules on use of facial recognition technology

Tech can only be used to process biometric data in ‘certain conditions’ and when there is ‘sufficient’ need, according to draft rules.

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China has a vast network of security cameras installed across the country. Photo: AFP
US-China relations

North Koreans who fled to China may be sent back to harsh fate, US panel hears

Up to 2,000 North Koreans were arrested after escaping to China during the coronavirus pandemic, and many are now languishing in camps near the Chinese border.

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Science

Opinion | In technological race for convenience, we must not leave privacy in the dust

China and other countries are quickly adopting biometric payment methods, digital currency and IoT tech for everyday needs, but many worry progress comes at a cost.

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Singapore

‘Like being in a fishbowl’: spotlight on prisoners’ privacy in Singapore

Constant surveillance with cameras using facial recognition technology violates prisoners’ privacy and increases risk of bias against minority communities, advocates say. And it’s not just Singapore.

AI security cameras using facial recognition technology are displayed at a product exhibition in China. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS
Science

How Chinese students made an ‘invisibility cloak’ that evades security cameras

The InvisDefense coat allows the wearer to be seen but not detected as human, with implications for anti-drone tech and the battlefield.

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The InvisDefense team used an algorithm to configure the pattern that was the least conspicuous to the human eye but could still trick a security camera into not identifying its wearer. Photo: Wei Hui
Australia

Australia bets on facial recognition to deter problem gamblers

Despite concerns about privacy and surveillance, the tech – which uses AI to identify addicts who have asked to be barred from betting sites – will target problem gambling in a country where the addiction affects some 1 per cent of the population.

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Artificial intelligence

Chinese AI giant Megvii said to implement fresh round of lay-offs

Speculation about retrenchment of workers in China’s AI industry reflects the uncertainties brought by US trade sanctions and further restrictions imposed by Washington.

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Artificial intelligence

US unveils artificial intelligence ‘Bill of Rights’ to safeguard civil rights

The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights does not set out specific enforcement actions, instead serving as guidance for the federal government.

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A live demonstration uses artificial intelligence and facial recognition in a dense crowd at the Horizon Robotics exhibit at the Las Vegas Convention Center during CES 2019. Photo: TNS
Video gaming

Young video gamers deterred by China’s harsh rules, but loopholes remain

Gamers aged between six and 17 totalled 83 million in China this year, down from 122 million two years ago, according to Niko Partners.

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Surveillance

‘Orwellian’ facial recognition cameras in UK stores challenged by rights group

Big Brother Watch urged Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office to investigate whether Southern Co-operative’s use of biometric scans, which monitors for blacklisted customers, violates data laws.

Artificial intelligence

Meet the 75-year-old propelling China’s AI ambitions forward

Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, one of AI’s most influential figures, has exerted a profound impact on the country’s technology pioneers, who have gone on to start multibillion-dollar start-ups.

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Andrew Chi-Chih Yao attends an HKUST seminar on “Quantum Computing: A Great Science in the Making” on January 28, 2016. Photo: SCMP/Edmond So
SenseTime

Exclusive | Where does SenseTime go after its US sanction-delayed stock sale?

What happened with SenseTime reflects how growing animosity between the US and China is catching Hong Kong in the crossfire between the world’s two largest economies.

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Illustration by Lau Ka-kuen
Surveillance

US ‘smart city’ tech highlights contrasts with China over privacy, control

American communities try to balance the benefits of new technology with the threats of a surveillance state.

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Ant Group

Ant Group-backed smart vending machine start-up seeks Hong Kong IPO

Beijing Ubox Online Technology Corp, which posted over US$204 million in losses over the past two years, had been working for more than four years to list on the A-shares market, but withdrew its IPO application in 2021.

Crime

US cities walk back facial recognition bans in face of surging crime

Virginia will end a prohibition on the use of the technology by local police in July and California and the city of New Orleans could be next.

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US states and cities are walking back bans on the use of facial recognition as crime rates rise, but concerns about the technology’s accuracy and racial bias continue. Photo: Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence

Chinese facial recognition firm DeepGlint in muted trading debut in Shanghai

DeepGlint, which was added to the US government’s trade blacklist in July last year, once targeted a US$300 billion valuation.

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DeepGlint is among a group of Chinese facial recognition tech companies that heavily rely on government orders. Photo: Shutterstock
Video gaming

‘Two sessions’ delegates propose more gaming restrictions for China

NPC and CPPCC delegates have suggested harsher measures to curb video game addiction, including a complete ban for minors, reflecting the rigid political climate in Beijing.

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SenseTime

AI giant SenseTime expands tech application to manufacturing sector

SenseTime’s latest initiative enables it to compete in China’s nascent automated industry inspection market, which is led by major tech firms Baidu, Huawei and Alibaba.

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