Most businesses do not obtain user consent to use face recognition
Beware of stealing your "face" from behind the scenes
● According to data, nearly half of businesses do not obtain user consent when using the face recognition function. In the current large-scale use of "big data", personal information leakage may cause more problems
● Whether it is in the private room of a restaurant or in some marketing places for facial recognition for commercial use, these cameras that have been accustomed to or even ignored by people have once again triggered the public's discussion on the boundary between public space and personal privacy
● How to prevent our "face" from being stolen from behind the scenes?
This not only requires the self-discipline of the enterprise, but also requires the government as a manager to strengthen the legal restraint and supervision of face recognition through legislation.
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
In the Internet age, people used to be afraid of identity information being trafficked, but now they have to worry that the "face" may no longer belong to them.
With the popularization of "face recognition" technology, face registration, face payment, and face recognition have been implemented smoothly, and have been developed simultaneously with the Internet, high-tech industries, and penetrated into residents’ public safety, financial security, and personal account security. Everything.
However, data shows that nearly half of businesses do not obtain user consent when using the face recognition function. In the current large-scale use of "big data", personal information leakage may cause more problems.
Whether it’s in the restaurant’s private rooms or in some marketing places for facial recognition for commercial use, these cameras that have been accustomed to or even ignored by people have once again triggered the public’s discussion on the boundary between public space and personal privacy: the camera records privacy. Or evidence?
With the proliferation of cameras, does it make us safer, or does it allow us to "running naked"?
Unauthorized collection of facial information
Increase the risk of personal privacy leakage
The first case exposed at this year’s "March 15" party was "Directly hit face recognition, who is'stealing' my face?" In this group of news, multiple businesses were exposed to a series of unauthorized customers. Behaviors, including the use of monitoring equipment to collect facial information, identify customers, store information, etc.
The camera of a well-known bathroom store in Shanghai looked inconspicuous, but it ignited the public's attention at this year's "March 15" party.
A CCTV reporter learned from a retail sales director of the above-mentioned brand that the cameras installed in the store have facial recognition capabilities.
The reporter also visited Wandianzhang, a technology company that provides cameras.
The staff revealed that thousands of the above-mentioned sanitary ware brand stores in China have installed their cameras.
Once someone walks into the store, facial information is collected.
As long as a customer appears once in a store, and then goes to any store in the future, the number of visits will also be recorded by the system.
The staff of Wandianzhang, who provided related equipment, said that the accuracy of the system's recognition of faces without masks is about 95%, and there is an 80% to 85% probability that people wearing masks will be accurately recognized.
In addition, the "face interactive marketing solution" provided by the company for businesses can also analyze the gender, age, and mood of a person through photos.
Auto 4S shops also abuse face recognition cameras.
A CCTV reporter's investigation found that the same situation exists in a car 4S store, and the data can be exchanged among more than 100 stores of this car company. Shanghai Yoluoke Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. provides technical support for them.
In addition, the tens of thousands of cameras installed by Guangzhou Yaliang Technology Co., Ltd. across the country can also capture the face information of customers in real time, and even blacklist unwelcome customers in the background.
There is also Xiamen Ruiwei Information Technology Co., Ltd., which was also named at this year's "March 15" party.
According to the "Information Security Technology Personal Information Security Specification", face information belongs to biometric information as well as personal sensitive information. When collecting personal information, the authorization and consent of the subject of personal information should be obtained.
However, CCTV reporters found that none of the merchants clearly informed customers that facial information would be collected, and soliciting opinions was even more difficult to talk about.
Multiple stores may be involved in illegal collection.
This leads to more concerns: together with the facial information, where are other personal information data stored, whether they are used for profit, and whether there is a risk of leakage?
On March 16, the brands named at this year’s "March 15" party responded: The above-mentioned bathroom brand said that the company had removed the camera overnight; Wandianzhang also issued a statement, apologizing to users and the public, and began rectification; Brands such as Xicha and Liangpinpu said that although they use Wandianzhang's facial recognition cameras, they "will never illegally collect consumer facial data."
Can the hotel room be monitored?
Insiders have different opinions
Also caught in the camera controversy is the catering industry.
The China Hotel Association conducted a random survey from March 5 to 7. Among the 118 members and industry enterprises surveyed, 18% of the surveyed members installed cameras in private rooms, and 82% did not install cameras.
According to Zhang Jingfu, vice president of the China Hotel Association, the top three reasons for installing cameras are to avoid food safety risks, the need for evidence collection, and to protect enterprises from professional "ceramics."
According to a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily, it is now common to install cameras in the lobby of restaurants, and it has also been recognized by consumers that personal property will be safer.
But on the question of whether it is acceptable to install cameras in restaurant rooms, consumers have divergent views.
According to Wang Zhongwei, the legal counsel of the China Hotel Association, the installation of monitoring in large-scale gathering areas such as restaurants does not violate the law, and the prohibited installation areas mentioned in the local management regulations are often limited to hotel rooms and entertainment venues private rooms, which are not explicitly excluded. No monitoring can be installed in hotel private rooms.
Liu Deliang, a professor at the Law School of Beijing Normal University, pointed out in an interview with a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily: “Cameras have the function of objectively recording reality and providing evidence for investigations of disputes. Normal use of cameras can protect the safety of the people. The original intention. The restaurant’s private rooms are public spaces. As long as they are posted with reminder signs and respect and safeguard customers’ right to know, there is no problem with installing cameras."
But Wang Xixin, a professor at Peking University Law School, believes that installing cameras in private rooms violates the provisions of the Civil Code on the protection of personal privacy.
In addition, Article 27 of the "Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft)" stipulates that the installation of image collection and personal identification equipment in public places shall be necessary to maintain public safety, comply with relevant national regulations, and set up significant Prompt logo.
In Wang Xixin’s view, the concept of public safety cannot be explained casually. “Public safety is usually based on major safety considerations, such as installing cameras on roads for public transportation, public security, anti-terrorism, etc.. Worry about losing customers’ things. If there is a petty theft, or someone adds something to the hot pot, and maliciously makes a claim, these are not public safety."
After consulting relevant information, a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" noticed that at present, most provinces and cities have explicitly requested that they prohibit the installation of cameras for places and areas that obviously involve personal privacy, such as hotels, guest rooms, etc., but slightly less such as private rooms in entertainment venues. The place of dispute, the policies of different regions appear to be different.
For example, the cities of Inner Mongolia, Yunnan and Changsha explicitly prohibit the installation of cameras in private rooms of entertainment venues, while Guangdong Province and Xi'an City have not explicitly listed them.
The interviewed experts therefore pointed out that in real life, the boundary between public space and personal privacy is not clear-cut.
Monitoring and installation applications are increasingly proliferating
Be wary of using cameras for personal gain
Nowadays, cameras are almost everywhere.
According to data from the professional version of Tianyancha, there are currently more than 6,500 companies related to face recognition and nearly 500,000 companies related to monitoring equipment in China.
Among them, nearly 20,000 companies related to monitoring equipment have had legal proceedings, and more than 70,000 companies related to monitoring equipment have experienced business abnormalities. More than 6,500 companies related to monitoring equipment have been subject to administrative penalties, and more than 2,600 related companies have committed serious violations. .
"People are exposed to various cameras more than 500 times a day." Shen Yang, a professor at the School of Journalism of Tsinghua University, said that in many application scenarios, the collection of face data violates the public's right to choose and to know.
According to statistics, by 2021, the number of cameras installed in my country will reach 567 million.
Meng Qiang, director of the Civil Code Research Center of the Beijing Institute of Technology Law School, said bluntly that there is a certain flood of camera installation and application.
The reasonable application of cameras has the effect of maintaining public order and epidemic prevention and control, but there are also phenomena that unscrupulous businesses collect massive amounts of data to obtain commercial benefits, and some public authorities install cameras for laziness or fines for revenue generation.
"In particular, the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology. The camera with the face recognition system and the ordinary camera are mixed without special prompts, and people cannot distinguish. The ordinary camera only collects data. If it does not perform post-depth processing, it only It has the function of retaining evidence. For example, the public security organs investigate theft cases and check surveillance videos of intersections and communities. The police will watch for dozens of hours at a glance. It is a person who is processing the data." Meng Qiang said, but with a human face. The camera of the recognition technology has the ability to process data in time. It can be connected and compared with a large database to quickly determine the basic information of the person being photographed. It is the system's automatic data recognition generation.
This is a technological innovation, a leapfrog development from the information collection function to the information "collection + processing" function.
However, Meng Qiang emphasized that while using cameras, we must pay attention to protecting public privacy.
Technology is a double-edged sword, and the key lies in how the sword bearer acts.
Some people in the industry believe that while people lament that technology has brought convenience to life, they are also troubled by face recognition that frequently violates public privacy.
How to prevent our "face" from being stolen from behind the scenes?
This not only requires the self-discipline of enterprises, but also requires the government as a manager to strengthen the legal constraints and supervision of face recognition through legislation.
It is recommended that practitioners be legally compliant, obtain written consent from customers, and collect customer information in accordance with the principle of necessity, increase information security protection, and properly keep the collected customer data information to prevent information leakage.