Chinese real estate companies' facial recognition use draws complaints

Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province in China, ordered that real estate companies remove facial recognition systems from their sales offices after a public outcry about privacy violations. Facial recognition systems had been widely adopted by property developers across China to identify customers, distinguish between different types of home buyers and to prevent attempts to exploit discount systems. However, concerns were raised about the legality of collecting biometric data without explicit consent from customers. Critics and legal experts argued that such practices infringe on privacy rights, as outlined in China's then upcoming Civil Code and updated personal information security regulations. In one instance, a video of a man wearing a helmet while visiting a real estate sales center in Jinan went viral on social media. The man claimed that he was trying to prevent the sales center from collecting his face image. Concerns were also expressed that real estate companies using facial recognition could discriminate against certain types of customer on the basis of price, ethnicity or age. The enforcement of the order was part of a broader trend across various Chinese cities, including Tianjin, aiming to regulate the use of facial recognition technology amidst rising public awareness and concern over data privacy. System 🤖 Unknown Developer: Country: China Sector: Real e state Purpose: Identify customers; Categorise customers Technology: Facial recognition Issue: Bias/discrimination ; Privacy/surveillance

Date it happened

2020-11-01

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