While we are speaking of China and privacy protection this morning, this might be a good time to note that Joe Cadillic sent along an interesting – and concerning – piece on China’s surveillance of its citizens. Tara Francis Chan reports:
There are 170 million surveillance cameras in China. By 2020, the country hopes to have 570 million — that’s nearly one camera for every two citizens.
At the same time, China is a building a national database that will recognize any citizen within three seconds. Though that system probably won’t be unveiled for a number of years, facial recognition is widespread in China.
Thanks to a large sample population and lax privacy laws, police and private companies have led the way in developing surveillance technology that is now being used to track travel, shopping, crime, and even toilet paper usage.
Take a look at all the ways people’s faces are being used for surveillance — with and without their permission.
Read more on Business Insider. They have compiled a number of surveillance pictures from different kinds of settings and applications – and yes, it may make you wonder why people are smiling for the cameras.