Advertisement
Advertisement
-
TOPIC

Facial recognition

Facial recognition
Latest news, in-depth features and opinion on facial recognition technology, its development, application and concerns over its use.
A CCTV camera in Mong Kok on April 13, 2025. In the first phase of the SmartView programme, completed in 2025, the police installed 5,000 cameras and integrated another 6,000 from other departments and organisations. Photo: Eugene Lee
Hong Kong police

Editorial | Smooth roll-out of surveillance tech will help Hong Kong combat crime

While cameras and facial recognition technology must be deployed carefully, their use can ultimately help ensure public safety.

Artificial intelligence

SenseTime pushes open-source AI model to provide a ‘smart brain’ for every robot

Crime in Hong Kong

Editorial | Police CCTV coverage must be expanded with care, ensuring data security

Hong Kong police

Hong Kong police could deploy facial recognition tech in CCTVs by end of year

Technology will enable officers to identify suspects and missing people in real time, and force will also install surveillance cameras on patrol cars.

19
Hong Kong police will install surveillance cameras on 60 patrol cars that will be able to identify vehicles and licence plates. Photo: Sam Tsang
Hong Kong society

Hong Kong lawmakers call for facial recognition system at upgraded land crossing

Hong Kong lawmakers give initial nod to HK$1.75 billion funding for Huanggang border crossing upgrade.

China technology

Editorial | Facial recognition in China calls for protective measures

Hong Kong needs to bear this in mind as mainland China brings in new rules to ease public concerns.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

No facial recognition without consent: China lays down the law on pervasive tech

Measures from cyberspace regulator and police ministry taking effect on June 1 mark first major attempt to regulate widely used technology.

videocam
The widespread use of facial recognition technology in daily life in China has prompted increasing public concerns about privacy and security. Photo: Reuters
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

In July, Megvii signed a deal with Geely and a local tech hub to develop internet-connected intelligent cars and AI projects in Chongqing.

Cybersecurity

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

More than 50 apps recently started accepting virtual IDs created under this proposed authentication system for user account registration and login.

Legal experts have expressed concerns over the proposed regulation’s implications on mainland app users’ privacy and government oversight. Photo: Shutterstock
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.

videocam
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.

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.

videocam
5
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.

videocam
Few countries have passed legislation for the ethical use of artificial intelligence, while also justifying the use of AI-based surveillance technologies such as facial recognition on the grounds of security. Photo: Shutterstock
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.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
9
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
7
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
Two children play video games on a tablet at an airport in Xian, China. Photo: Shutterstock
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.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement