The Supreme Law issued a judicial interpretation to regulate the application of facial recognition in hotels, shopping malls, banks and other places. The abuse of facial recognition is an infringement.
Residents shall not be forced to "brush their faces" when entering and leaving the community property
On July 28, the Supreme People's Court issued the "Regulations on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Cases Related to the Use of Face Recognition Technology to Process Personal Information" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations").
The "Regulations" regulate face recognition, and the Supreme Law formulates judicial interpretations on the basis of full investigations to provide judicial protection for facial information.
The "Regulations" clarify that the use of facial recognition technology for facial verification, identification or analysis in hotels, shopping malls, banks, stations, airports, stadiums, entertainment venues and other business places and public places in violation of laws and administrative regulations is an infringement. .
background
Frequent incidents of abuse of face recognition infringement
Talking about the background of the formulation and promulgation of the "Regulations", the Vice President of the Supreme People's Court Yang Wanming introduced at a press conference held on July 28 that while bringing convenience to social life, the protection of personal information brought by face recognition technology The problem has become increasingly prominent.
Some business operators abuse face recognition technology to infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of natural persons frequently, arousing widespread concern and concern among the public.
For example, some well-known stores use "non-sensing" facial recognition technology to collect consumer facial information without consent, analyze the consumer's gender, age, mood, etc., and then adopt different marketing strategies.
Yang Wanming also mentioned that some property service companies compulsorily use face recognition as the only verification method for owners to enter and exit the community or unit door, requiring owners to enter their faces and bind relevant personal information. Unidentified owners are not allowed to enter the community.
For another example, some online platforms or applications compulsorily obtain user's facial information, and some sellers openly sell facial recognition videos, buying and selling facial information on social platforms and websites.
Problems such as "being loaned", "frauded" and infringement of privacy and reputation rights often occur due to the leakage of identity information such as facial information.
There are even some criminals who use illegally obtained ID photos and other personal information to make dynamic videos, crack facial recognition verification procedures, commit crimes such as stealing property and falsely issuing ordinary VAT invoices.
The aforesaid behavior seriously damages the personality rights of natural persons, infringes on their legal rights and interests such as their personal and property, and disrupts social order, and therefore urgently requires regulation.
response
Make judicial interpretations based on the actual needs of the masses
Yang Wanming pointed out that face information belongs to the biometric information in sensitive personal information. It is the personal information with the strongest social attributes and the easiest to collect in biometric information. It is unique and unchangeable. If it is leaked, it will affect the personal and property of the individual. Security causes great harm, and may even threaten public safety.
According to the "Face Recognition Application Public Survey Report" released by the APP Special Governance Working Group last year, among more than 20,000 respondents, 94.07% of the respondents have used facial recognition technology, and 64.39% of the respondents think Facial recognition technology has a tendency to be abused. 30.86% of the respondents have suffered losses or privacy violations due to the leakage and abuse of facial information.
During this period of time, face recognition has become a hot vocabulary, the public is increasingly worried about the abuse of face recognition technology, and the call for strengthening the protection of face information is increasing.
Yang Wanming stated that the Supreme People’s Court is based on the actual needs of the people, is problem-oriented, gives full play to its judicial functions, actively responds to people’s concerns and expectations, and strictly follows the Civil Code, the Cybersecurity Law, the Consumer Rights Protection Law, and the Laws such as the Electronic Commerce Law and the Civil Procedure Law have absorbed the relevant experience and achievements of personal information protection legislation, and formulated this judicial interpretation on the basis of full research to provide judicial protection of facial information.
new rule
Obtain consent when entering the face of the access control system
Face information is sensitive personal information, and the collection and use of face information by community properties must obtain the consent of the owner or the user of the property in accordance with the law.
Only when the owner or the property user voluntarily agrees to use face recognition, can the collection and use of face information have a legal basis.
According to Yang Wanming, Articles 10 to 12 of the "Regulations" mainly respond to issues of general concern to the people from the perspectives of property services, the effectiveness of standard clauses, and the responsibility for breach of contract.
He said that for property service companies or other building managers who use face recognition as the only verification method for owners or property users to enter and exit the property service area, Article 10 clearly states that owners or property users who disagree request other The people's court shall support it in accordance with the law if the method of verification is reasonable.
According to this provision, the community property shall obtain the consent of the owner or property user when using the face recognition access control system to enter facial information. For owners or property users who do not agree, the community property shall provide alternative verification methods. Do not infringe upon the personality rights and other legal rights of the owner or the user of the property.
Regarding information processors that enter into contracts with natural persons by adopting standard terms, requiring natural persons to grant them unlimited, irrevocable, and arbitrarily sub-authorization rights to process facial information, Article 11 stipulates that natural persons shall comply with Article 497 of the Civil Code Articles requesting to confirm the invalidity of the standard clause shall be supported by the people’s court according to law.
Article 12 provides for situations in which natural persons request information processors to assume responsibility for breach of contract and delete their facial information.
Guo Feng, deputy director of the Research Office of the Supreme People’s Court, said that in practice, some residential properties compulsorily require residents to enter facial information and use facial recognition as the only verification method for entering and leaving the community. This behavior violates the principle of “inform consent” and the masses questioned Louder.
"We should embrace new technology, but at the same time we must respect the rights of personality. Residential properties cannot use intelligent management as an excuse to infringe on the rights of residents.
Text/Reporter Meng Yaxu, Zhu Kaiyun, intern Ma Jialiang
Coordinator/Xu Feng Yu Meiying
Face recognition can be used in five types of situations
(1) Processing face information necessary to respond to public health emergencies or to protect the life, health and property safety of natural persons in an emergency
(2) To maintain public safety, use face recognition technology in public places in accordance with relevant national regulations
(3) Conducting news reports, public opinion supervision and other acts for the public interest to process facial information within a reasonable scope
(4) Reasonable processing of facial information within the scope of the consent of natural persons or their guardians
(5) Other circumstances that comply with laws and administrative regulations