Chinese police use facial recognition tech to identify suspect from crowd of 50,000

[midian182]

The use of facial recognition technology in surveillance cameras is common in China, with systems found everywhere from streets, to bus stations, to grocery stores, and airports. Chinese police say they recently used the technology to identify then arrest a man at a music venue attended by over 50,000 other people.

The 31-year-old suspect, who has only been identified by his surname, Ao, was attending a concert by Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung with his wife and friends last week. The South China Morning Post reports that Ao was shocked when police approached and led him away for “economic crimes.”

Ao had driven 56 miles to attend the concert. He was quoted as saying he felt safe in such a huge crowd and would never have gone if he knew there was a risk of him being spotted. He was identified at the concert’s ticket entrance before being apprehended by police after sitting down alongside other attendees.

“Ao was suspected to be involved in an economic crime and was listed on a national online system,” said police officer Li Jin of Honggutan police station in Nanchang city. "He didn't think the police would be able to catch him from a crowd of 60,000 so quickly,"

Last August, authorities used facial recognition technology to arrest 25 suspects at the Qingdao Beer Festival. And earlier this year, officers stationed at the Zhengzhou East high-speed rail station in Henan province made headlines after they were issued glasses embedded with facial scanning technology.

With 170 million CCTV cameras already in use, China continues to work on "the world's biggest camera surveillance network." It’s expected that millions more will be added over the next few years, many of which will feature forms of AI that include facial recognition. A worrying prospect for a country with such a poor record when it comes to privacy and human rights.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74150-chinese-police-use-facial-recognition-tech-identify-suspect.html

 

[wiyosaya]

If it works this well, I have to wonder what else China might extend this to.

 

[Capaill]

Impressive if it can scan a crowd of 50,000 to find one person. But it says he was identified at the ticket entrance so that's a little less impressive. I presume they then used his ticket number to find which seat he was in.
I wonder how quickly it would find Wally.

 

[Reachable]

Why didn't they arrest him at his home? Maybe it's more efficient to catch as catch can rather than do raids one by one.

 

[VitalyT]

In a closer look, we may find he signed his name when getting the ticket, and that's what actually caught him, not the camera The Chinese government likes intimidating people with its technological prowess that in reality isn't there.

 

[toooooot]

If it works this well, I have to wonder what else China might extend this to.

Scumbags that dont love everlasting leader and Communism?

 

[FreeBetaTester]

Anyone remember this camera?
https://www.techspot.com/news/73954-canon-120-megapixel-image-sensor-captures-video-frightening.html

China would love to have these everywhere and conduct surveillance on everyone all the time.

 

[senketsu]

Many are quick to call those concerned with privacy conspiracy theorists or other such ilk, but this shows (even if in this specific case facial recognition was not used and just said to have been used to make China look good) what is going to happen or is actually happening. The article states "With 170 million CCTV cameras already in use, China continues to work on "the world's biggest camera surveillance network." It’s expected that millions more will be added over the next few years, many of which will feature forms of AI that include facial recognition."
Imagine what countries with much more advanced technology and perhaps funding are or will be doing. From what I read the UK already has CCTV cameras in large numbers with other countries going down the same road. As technology advances the surveillance will be more covert.
I even suspect it is possible that agencies within governments are doing extreme covert surveillance that those higher in office are not informed of because it is illegal and they want to keep doing it. National security you know....

 

[hqxt1964]

This huge monitoring system is called skynet. It does play a big role in fighting crime, so China is in good order.