Chinese banks start scanning borrowersโ facial movements โ Financial Times (Paywall)
What happened: Ping An, a Chinese financial services conglomerate, is now testing self-developed facial recognition technology to detect a borrowerโs facial micro-expressions for analysis of potential fraud. Additionally, the technology supports remote lending by using the camera on a smartphone. However, the reliability of micro-expression systems is still under discussion even in academia.
Why itโs important: The detection and analysis of facial micro-expressions are extended uses of Chinaโs widely implemented facial recognition. This signals that the technology in the country is aggressively building on existing applications. Meanwhile, the countryโs lack of comprehensive data protection regulations and Beijingโs ambition in national security control will foster the technologyโs expansion and penetration.
