« Red Light Cameras in Chicago | Main | DARPA Supporting Smart Cameras »

February 02, 2008

Limiting Facial Recognition to China

[From Keeping an Eye on China’s Security - New York Times]

The article notes the Commerce Department is drafting new rules on what security equipment companies can sell to China. They could restrict the export of facial recognition software:

The move comes in response to rapid advances in surveillance technology and the increasing involvement of American companies in the Chinese market as the Olympics approach. People involved with the process said the Commerce Department was singling out biometric technology — face-recognition software, in particular — which Chinese security agencies could use to identify political and religious dissidents.

Chinese security agencies are rapidly increasing their spending on video systems with powerful computer analysis tools. American companies, with heavy financial backing from American hedge funds, have played a central role in helping Chinese cities install thousands of street surveillance cameras and use computers to process the video.

Congress has become concerned about the export controls on such activity. “It remains extremely important to have such controls in place so that our country’s exports do not enable governments abroad to repress the fundamental freedoms that we cherish here at home,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who presides over the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. “I will be watching closely as this process develops to ensure that current U.S. export controls are not weakened.”

Posted by rshah at February 2, 2008 11:16 PM

Comments

Post a comment