citizens are increasingly encountering modern systems designed to monitor their behavior. Behind these systems is the Chinese government, which wants to keep its citizens under control and pays little attention to privacy in the process.
The latest technology is facial recognition for payments. Customers can now increasingly make purchases simply by turning their heads toward the terminal. Given that mobile payment systems in China are already highly advanced, people can now make payments by standing in front of terminals equipped with cameras, which then connect to a database and the bank to link the customer to the correct bank account.
People don’t need to carry anything at all to use the new technology. Facial payments work without the need for a phone, ID, or credit card. This may be good news for someone who fears being robbed or frequently loses their belongings. However, first and foremost, this represents a potentially significant invasion of privacy. Now, the relevant authorities can maintain a detailed database of what, when, and where people shop and how much they spend.
Within a short time of its implementation, many citizens have already spoken out against the excessive misuse of the monitoring system. This is particularly true in the Xinjiang region, which is one of the most strictly guarded areas. Researchers warn that the state could misuse the data for its own purposes, such as surveillance, tracking, and prosecuting political dissidents. There is even talk of ethnic profiling. In this regard, the most affected are the often-oppressed Uyghurs from Xinjiang.
However, despite concerns about data security and privacy, it seems that many consumers are completely unaware of the risks and use facial recognition payments on a daily basis. Alipay, the financial arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba, has already rolled out facial payment options in more than 100 cities. Alipay’s solution is called “Smile-to-Pay” and relies on terminals equipped with tablets featuring cameras of sufficient quality to reliably verify identity. Alipay estimates that it will spend about three billion yuan (over 420 million U.S. dollars) over three years to implement the technology. In addition, the company is trying to encourage merchants to adopt the technology through subsidies amounting to billions of yuan.
Proponents of the technology argue that facial recognition payments are safer than entering a PIN, which someone could watch and memorize. In a survey, customers confided that they feel unattractive on camera, so Alipay will introduce “beautification filters” to all cameras.
