Chinese tech groups have a large influence in shaping international standards in regards to facial recognition, according to a report from the Financial Times.
Companies such as ZTE and China Telecom are submitting standards for facial recognition to the UN’s International Telecommunications Union. The union is in charge of technical standards worldwide.
The proposals submitted by the companies call for facial recognition to be used by police and for employers to keep tabs on their employees. The companies also want the technology to be used to spot targets in crowds.
Since the technical standards would likely be adopted by developing nations that don’t have the resources to form their own standards, China would be able to control the technology market.
China has a lot of power in the realm of facial recognition and uses the technology against protestors. It has also been accused of human rights abuses by using the technology to monitor ethnic minorities such as the Uighur Muslims.
Canada’s stance on facial recognition is not entirely clear yet. However, the Toronto Police recently came under fire after disclosing that the service was using facial recognition. The government of Canada also recently launched the Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence to better monitor and research the new technology.
Source: Financial Times Via: Engadget
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