Chinese University Implements Face-Scanning Security

“Visitors are now required to use the social media platform WeChat to scan their faces by reading out a string of numbers with their selfie camera on, offering their national identity card details as well.”

Tsinghua University, a prestigious academic institution in Beijing, is now requiring visitors to submit their facial biometrics.

As the South China Morning Post reports, the university explained on social media that it had implemented the system “for security purposes”. While Tsinghua University’s account didn’t elaborate on the issue, the campus is known to have an ongoing problem of unofficial tour guides bilking unsuspecting visitors of cash.

That problem may be thwarted with the new biometric registration system. Visitors are now required to use the social media platform WeChat to scan their faces by reading out a string of numbers with their selfie camera on, offering their national identity card details as well. The information is then used to verify visitors’ identities upon arrival at the campus.

It’s the latest example of the growing prevalence of facial recognition in China, with many citizens unlikely to blink at the idea of submitting facial biometrics along with ID card information to a respected institution. While such biometric technology is likely most often used in government surveillance applications, it has proliferated across daily life in other ways too, from verifying individuals for marriage certificates to processing purchases for takeout.

Tsinghua said on social media that it had already processed “about 8,000 visitors” with its biometric registration system on its first day of operation.

Source: South China Morning Post

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July 17, 2018 – by Alex Perala