Police in China are now using face-scanning smartglasses to identify criminals in public. Designed by Beijing-based LLVision, the devices look like sunglasses, but feature a small camera at the top of one lens. Software scans faces captured in the video feed, and those are then compared to an offline database in a synced, smartphone-like mobile…
“News of the surveillance program comes soon after the revelation that government authorities had been collecting the biometric data of all Xinjiang residents through an ostensible health program called ‘Physicals for All’.” Chinese authorities have launched a biometric surveillance system in the Xinjian region designed to automatically alert authorities when individuals travel more than 300…
One of China’s largest cities has begun using facial recognition technology to bust bogus marriages and shorten the process of registering newly married couples, reports South China Morning Post. The Marriage and Adoption Registration Management Centre in Chongqing hopes to prevent the occurrences of people registering under a false name by introducing a process where newlyweds…
Facial recognition technology is used more widely in China than perhaps any other country, but soon it will be for the birds: A farming insurance company says it’s planning to use the technology to identify chickens. The firm is an arm of ZhongAn Online; as South China Morning Post reports, the company recently pioneered the…
Chinese authorities are in the process of a mass collection of biometric data from the residents of a region with a high population of the Uyghur minority group, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch. While 92 percent of China’s residents are considered ethnic Hans, almost half of the residents of the Xinjiang…
E-commerce firm Alibaba Group recently announced they will bring voice and facial recognition technologies to the Shanghai subway system through its affiliate Ant Financial Services group, according to a report from the South China Morning Post. This new technology will affect millions of commuters on one of the longest and furthest railway networks on the…
UnionPay, China’s major financial services organization, unveiled multiple new technologies for commerce at this month’s Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF), including a naked payments system based on facial recognition. Called FacePay, the system links a user’s face biometrics to their payment accounts, allowing them to make purchases just by presenting their face to a compatible POS…
“Vivo also emphasized its collaboration with Qualcomm on in-display fingerprint sensor technology…” Three major smartphone companies have signed non-binding memoranda of understanding (MoU) agreements to purchase 12 billion dollars’ worth of Qualcomm technology over the next three years. The agreements were signed as part of a larger bilateral trade initiative undertaken upon President Donald Trump’s…
The use of facial recognition technology is unquestionably on the rise. In the US, for example, the Customs and Border Protection agency is rapidly expanding its program of airport deployments; and on the consumer side, this year’s big new iPhone is expected to bring facial recognition to the masses, not just in the US but…
Twenty-five individuals wanted by police in China have been apprehended after being identified by facial recognition technology deployed at a major beer festival, reports The Guardian. Police were stationed alongside camera systems equipped with the biometric technology at entrances to the Qingdao event; among their captures was a fugitive who had been on the run…
Iris ID has a new client – Tongrentang, a Beijing-based producer of traditional Chinese medicines. According to Iris ID, Tongrentang was founded in 1669, and has expanded over the centuries to an enterprise that now comprises over a thousand retail outlets and even hospitals. Within a few years, the Iris ID partnership will see 20,000…
Education authorities in China are using biometric recognition and other high-tech measures to catch cheaters in the country’s annual “gaokao” university entrance exams. As Reuters reports, performance in these exams is thought to be critical to getting on track for a high-end job, hence the temptation to cheat. Exam centers are now implementing metal detectors and…
Beijing Normal University is using biometrics to regulate access to a women’s dormitory, reports The Telegraph. The system has made entry to the facility fully automated, granting access to registered students based on facial and voice recognition, with students required to say their names and swipe ID cards for entry. It’s designed to keep out…
“…ATMs will be outfitted with facial recognition technology designed to verify the identities of individuals withdrawing funds from accounts with China UnionPay, the country’s major financial services organization.” The government of Macau has announced that facial recognition will be implemented at ATMs to confirm cardholders with China UnionPay. It’s part of an effort to fight…
Organizers are planning to use biometrics to weed out cheaters in an upcoming half marathon in Beijing. As The Telegraph reports, the development comes amid a “fitness craze” sweeping across China, with 2016 having seen twice as many marathon runners as the year before. But amid that increasing interest there have also been sporadic reports…
Apple has extended support for its biometrically secured wallet among financial institutions in the US, China, and Australia. Apple Pay got its biggest additional boost in the US, with a number of banks and credit unions coming on board, including names like Barksdale Federal Credit Union and Lyons National Bank. Santander also found its way…
The Chinese government has announced that it will begin fingerprint foreign visitors this Friday. Diplomats and individuals visiting from countries with which China has special travel agreements will be exempt from the new requirement, which will otherwise apply to everyone between the ages of 14 and 70. The border screening effort will begin in Shenzhen…
Precise Biometrics technology is being used in a new smartphone from a China-based OEM. In a statement announcing the integration, the company declined to reveal the name of its client, but it did suggest that the integration should begin to generate royalty revenues starting in the fourth quarter of this year. The company also stated that…
“But new technologies are emerging that could provide alternative options to people like Mr. Wu.” Multiple banks in China denied an armless citizen a loan because he wasn’t able to provide fingerprints, according to a BBC report. Twenty-five-year-old educator Wu Jianping lost his arms as a child after suffering a serious electrical shock. He’s still able…