At a time when coronavirus is causing more people to wear masks, a Chinese firm has developed technology to recognize faces when covered. While it stands to reason a solution like this would be needed during a time of increased mask usage, it also raises concerns over authority use of electronic surveillance.

This is not the first time a facial recognition system for those wearing masks has been developed. A machine learning algorithm that uses key facial points for recognition was developed by researchers in 2017. However, the general public should be wary of mass-surveillance technologies like this. Of late, privacy has been a real concern due to the frequency of large-scale data harvesting, breaches and leaks in recent months. Facial recognition has also continued to be an issue, as proven by the controversial Clearview AI data breach.

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As Reuters reports, the new facial recognition technology has been developed by Hanwang Technology Ltd and the company is claiming it to be China's first. The company informs that this system has been designed specifically to help with coronavirus containment since masked faces have become so common in Chinese cities plagued by the outbreak. This new surveillance system will most likely be put to use soon since one of Hanwang's main clients is the Chinese Ministry of Public Security. That's the section of government that oversees law enforcement.

Designed To Help Contain Coronavirus

The system comes in two variants. One is a single channel version that is useful for entrances to offices and other buildings, while the second one is a sophisticated multi-channel model designed for crowd identification. The latter one uses multiple surveillance cameras and the company claims it can identify a crowd of up to 30 people in one second. While it is not clear if this uses a similar machine learning method to the one employed by the Cambridge researchers, what is unique is that this technology can be converted into a coronavirus screening system by connecting it to a temperature sensor to monitor the body temperature at the same time. Still, the technology is not perfect. If someone wears a mask and sunglasses, then much of the key facial information is lost, making detection tough.

Using thermal detectors to find people with unusually high body temperatures has become a trusted tool in the fight to contain coronavirus. However, this might be the first time that has been combined with facial recognition for the specific task at hand. It will be interesting to see if other governments begin to invest in similar surveillance systems to help swell the outbreak in their own countries. Either way, it is important to keep in mind that this is still a controversial technology, considering it can be bought and used by companies and law enforcement authorities for privacy-invading purposes other than containing a viral outbreak, like coronavirus.

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Source: Reuters