Why facial recognition meets less resistance in China - Matthew Brennan

Matthew Brennan

Facial recognition and the exchange of related data seems to meet little resistance in China, compared to Western consumers. Tencent observer Matthew Brennan sees some rubbles among the public, but indeed no big scale anxiety on facial recognition, he tells in Slate and dives into the different perceptions.

Slate:

Matthew Brennan, co-host of the China Tech Talk podcast, is hesitant to make blanket statements—pointing out that plenty of cosmopolitan Chinese share values and viewpoints with Westerners—but he does suspect that facial recognition is widely accepted in China for deeply cultural reasons. He calls China a “low-trust society, while Western societies tend to be high-trust.” Brennan chalks that difference up to rampant scams, from street corners to social media feeds, that have long plagued the People’s Republic of China with uncertainty. 

Oddly enough, that lack of trust typically doesn’t apply to government higher-ups or the cutting-edge tech firms linked to those officials. Instead, those upper echelons are often seen as sources of strong leadership or innovation that can root out lower-level, local corruption, including scammers and unscrupulous neighbors. A recent Bloomberg article unravels that paradox by describing an app piloted in one Chinese city, through which users can report what they deem to be dubious behavior of fellow citizens to the authorities. It goes on to say, “Depicted outside of China as a creepy digital panopticon, this network of so-called social-credit systems is seen within China as a means to generate something the country sorely lacks: trust. For that, perpetual surveillance and the loss of privacy are a small price to pay.” 

“In business, Westerners tend to trust people until they prove themselves untrustworthy, but the opposite is true in China,” Brennan said. “It stems back to the deep tradition of guanxi, or relationships, where friends introduce you to people you can trust for tasks or transactions.” He thinks most domestic viewers of the China Mobile supercop ad would “see it putting forth strength to hunt down bad actors. Meanwhile in Western society, we’d say the state has too much control, and facial recognition is being used for negative purposes. It boils down to perceptions of trust.”

More in Slate.

Matthew Brennan is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Privacy with Chinese characteristics - Matthew Brennan

Matthew Brennan

Chinese surveillance technology, especially social credit systems and facial recognition, is seen by Western media as a final end to privacy. But Tencent watcher Matthew Brennan sees this innovation works differently on the ground, in China, he explains in Metro.

Metro:

‘There’s been a lot written of very scary, negative coverage regarding social credit in China,’ says Matthew Brennan, a China-based technology expert. 

‘The reality on the ground is very different to what is being reported.’ 

Brennan believes Chinese citizens do have privacy – ‘but it’s difficult to explain how much’. 

He draws comparisons with credit score checking systems in the US and UK, which bring in oodles of data from different sources to assess how creditworthy an individual is. 

‘These credit score systems in developed markets also monitor consumers,’ he says. He believes that China is simply embracing technology in new ways. 

Large tech companies in China are rolling out new ways of utilising personal data to carry out everyday tasks – from checking in to flights to paying for items in shops... 

The country was among the first to dally with foldable smartphones, and has recently seen smartphones with projectors built-in come to market. But in the near future it will see ticketing for its subway using facial recognition to make payments become more widespread. 

Brennan has even demonstrated on his Twitter feed the ability to check in for flights and check out at supermarkets using facial recognition, tied to government ID cards. ‘It’s cropping up all over China in different scenarios, some of which are payment related, some of which aren’t,’ he says. 

This may seem like anathema to a western audience, but in China it’s the norm. ‘It’s got a much broader acceptance amongst society,’ Brennan says.

More in Metro. Matthew Brennan is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Facial recognition: the new normal in China - Matthew Brennan

Matthew Brennan

A short video clip of Tencent watcher Matthew Brennan went viral, as he noted facial recognition tools at China's airports. Most reactions from outside China were rather negative, he notes at CGTN, but in China itself, facial recognition is becoming the new normal. More debate is certainly needed, he adds.

Matthew Brennan is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form. 

Are you looking for more experts on fintech at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Wow! China Airport face recognition systems to help you check your flight status and find the way to your gate. Note I did not input anything, it accurately identified my full flight information from my face! pic.twitter.com/5ASdrwA7wj

— Matthew Brennan (@mbrennanchina) March 24, 2019

Facial recognition: the new norm - Matthew Brennan

Matthew Brennan

Social media expert Matthew Brennan gives ten case studies on facial recognition in China at his China Channel. Facial recognition is becoming fast the new norms, and he summarizes a few reasons why the new technology is taking off so fast.

Matthew Brennan:

Chinese people are incredibly accepting of change and like to embrace new things. They expect continual improvement in the technology around them and this new technology is not questioned to the same degree was in the West. 

Although it’s wrong to say Chinese have no concerns about privacy, we can definitely say that the overall level of concern is much lower than in the US or Europe. There are fewer suspicions of where their data is going or how it’s being used. 

Facial recognition technology really hits the sweet spot of two areas that are top priorities for the Chinese government: 

a. It is now the stated goal of the Chinese government to lead the world in AI related technologies by 2030. 

b. The primary need for control of information and society. Ubiquitous facial recognition technology makes it much easier to track individuals. 

A key difference in this area between China and the States is that it is much easier for startups in China to become profitable in this area as many government departments want solutions and have budget to pay.

More at the China Channel.

Matthew Brennan is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more innovation experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.