Chinanews.com client, Beijing, December 29th (Reporter Wu Tao) Recently, some users reported to Chinanews that they are installing face recognition in their community, and they are bound to their address and identity information.

The reasons given are more convenient access and more efficient management.

But some residents are also beginning to worry about the leakage of facial information: when I am not at home, others will know.

The installation of face recognition systems in multiple communities was boycotted

  Recently, Zhou Han (pseudonym), who lives in a community in Ronghua Street, Yizhuang, Beijing, told a reporter from Chinanews that their community requires every resident to collect facial information, and the community access control will also be changed from swiping cards to swiping faces.

  "The neighborhood committee said it was implementing the unified requirements of the superiors, but the residents did not see the documents and did not know whether the superiors had such requirements."

A certain community requires residents to apply for face recognition notification.

Photo courtesy of respondents

  It is understood that this implementation is not only a community, but Zhang Mo (pseudonym), a resident in Shijingshan District, Beijing, also told a reporter from Chinanews.com that their community had issued a notice in early December that the community had completed the preliminary survey of smart access control and the production and installation of hardware equipment. , System users enter information training, etc. The next step is to carry out the residents' information entry work in the whole district.

  According to Zhou Han, the above-mentioned Yizhuang community has issued a notice in June this year to require residents to apply for face recognition, but because the owners have loudly resisted, it has not been completed.

Zhang Mo said that her community has posted a notice, but many residents object to it.

More information is collected, and residents are worried about the leakage of information

  It is worth noting that face recognition in many communities does not simply collect face information. It requires not only ID card information but also real estate certificate and other information.

  "Face information is bound to other personal identity information. It is clear on the number of buildings, units, and doors. They all know when I am away from home." According to Zhou Han, the identity is required when applying for facial recognition. Proof and residence information, because of the access control function, you need to brush your face when entering and leaving the community.

Data map: Face recognition to take toilet paper.

Photo by Zhai Lu

  In an interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com, an industry insider said that the hidden danger of face recognition lies in storage security, because many applications bind face information with personal privacy information, such as name, ID number, phone number, and address. Together, once leaked, the consequences will be serious.

  "Many residents speak in the WeChat group. What if the facial information is provided to the neighborhood committee and lost? The neighborhood committee staff answered, no." Zhou Han said, as for the residents asked, "Who is the backstage management of facial information? Is the neighborhood committee or a third party? How to choose a third-party company for face recognition? Who guarantees information security? Do you want to sign security agreements with residents?" None of these questions have been answered so far.

Why change face recognition in and out of the community?

  According to multiple media reports, since 2020, many communities in Guangdong, Zhejiang and other places have been promoting face recognition in and out of communities, and some real estate developers have added face recognition to new buildings.

In some places, there are forced face recognition, and no recognition is allowed to enter the community.

  Regarding the change of face recognition in the community, Zhou Han said that the reason given by the community is that intelligent management can accurately identify people entering and exiting the community, making community management safer and more efficient.

  The reporter noticed that on the Internet, some netizens also said that they don’t need to bring the access card at any time. It is very convenient to swipe their faces, especially the elderly and children, who often forget to bring the card, and it can also prevent strangers from entering and leaving.

  Some netizens also said that the access card is very convenient. If you can get a public temperature measurement point at the gate of the community for temperature measurement, why have to face recognition and bind it with personal information?

  According to Zhou Han, some residents in her community don't mind swiping their faces and think it is convenient not to swipe their cards; but there are also residents who are unwilling to sacrifice personal information security in exchange for such convenience.

A notification from a community that requires facial recognition.

Photo courtesy of interviewed users.

  "If others have mastered the rules of residents entering and leaving the community, no one will know if you move your house, let alone take advantage of it. In fact, sometimes we don’t need so much convenience, but safety. There are dispensable personal creatures. Try not to collect information.” Zhou Han said.

  Zhao Zhanzhan, a lawyer at Beijing Yunjia Law Firm and a special researcher at the Intellectual Property Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, told a reporter from Chinanews.com that the problem of security and management efficiency in the community is mainly solved, but management efficiency can also have other alternative methods, such as The efficiency of access control cards and ID cards may not be low.

  "To ensure public safety, face recognition does not necessarily have to be, because there are cameras at the gates or key locations of the community, and it does not necessarily have to be solved by facial recognition."

  There are reports that more than 90% of the respondents have used face recognition, and 60% believe that face recognition technology has a tendency to abuse.

Is it legal to enter the community to force face recognition

?

  Zhao Zhanzhu said in an interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com that there is currently no very direct and clear regulation on whether it is legal to enter the community to force face recognition.

"The draft personal information protection law directly relates to the requirement that the facial feature information of a person is sensitive information. It should be collected with sufficient necessity, and the user's consent is required."

Data map.

Photo by Niu Jing of China News Agency

  Zhao Occupation also further stated that the existing laws stipulate that the collection of personal information needs to follow the principles of justice, lawfulness, and necessity. At present, this matter can also be analyzed and judged from the perspective of the principle of necessity. “Whether it is necessary to collect such sensitive information on the face in and out of the community? , So the matter is controversial."

  Yang Jie, a researcher at the Internet Law Research Center of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said in an interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com that it cannot be enforced. The installation of a face recognition system in a community to collect facial information of people entering the community requires personal consent.

  Yue Zhongming, a spokesperson for the Legislative Work Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and director of the Legislative Planning Office, said on December 21 that the draft personal information protection law makes special provisions for the handling of sensitive personal information including personal biological characteristics such as human faces. Only on the premise of purpose and sufficiency can the sensitive personal information be processed, and risk assessment shall be conducted in advance.

  What do you think?

(Finish)