China's Mega-Surveillance State: Merging AI, Facial Recognition & Social Credit - By Aaron Kesel -   
China  wants to give its prisoners (populace) the ability to pay with their faces to  ride subways; this will be combined with its social credit program -- which  already tracks the communist nation's citizens traveling -- and if points are  too low, it prevents travel.
The  new program, which must have been assembled from George Orwell's apparent  instruction manual 1984, is slowly rolling out throughout China in several  cities, The Standard reported.
In  Shenzhen, China, home of OnePlus, Huawei and internet giant Tencent, the city  has released a new government system for elderly Chinese. This new program will  allow residents of China over the age of 60 to register for free subway rides,  using just their face as their ticket.
If  you think this is just a one-off, you would be utterly wrong. This form of  facial recognition is already being experimented in other cities including  Jinan, Shanghai and Nanjing according to the South China Morning  Post.
China  is planning to merge its 170+ million security cameras with artificial  intelligence and facial recognition technology to create a mega-surveillance  state. This compounds with China's "social credit system" that ranks citizens  based on their behavior, and rewards and punishes depending on those  scores.
The  effort of using facial recognition as a ticket -- especially as an incentive --  is spreading across the world, starting with entertainment concert venues which  Fight For The Future and dozens of artists strongly oppose as Activist Post  reported. 
That's  not all -- even retail is pushing to forcefully indoctrinate society to use  facial recognition technology as an anti-theft mechanism to be introduced in a  thousands of stores using biometric software FaceFirst to build a database of  shoplifters, as Activist Post reported.
Lately,  BIG brother has been pushing the use of surveillance technology, from Amazon  helping law enforcement with its Facial Rekogntion software, DHS wanting to use  it for border control, to the Olympics wanting to use the tech for  security.
Further,  some of the biggest airports in the U.S. -- estimated at 16 airports across the  nation -- are now scanning us as we board international flights. CBP (Customs  And Border Patrol) expects to scale up the program to cover more than 97 percent  of passengers flying outside of the U.S. by 2021 according to  NextGov.
It's  all a part of U.S. President Donald Trump's "Biometric Exit" agenda, which was  originally signed into law under the Obama administration, BuzzFeed News  reported.
Further,  the policy director of U.S. CBP believes that facial recognition has already  become essential. The agency's head Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner John  Wagner has also hilariously said that its facial tracking technology isn't  surveillance, as Activist Post reported.
In  2017, Homeland Security clarified their position on domestic spying stating that  Americans who don't want their faces scanned leaving the country "shouldn't  travel."
"The  only way for an individual to ensure he or she is not subject to collection of  biometric information when traveling internationally is to refrain from  traveling," the DHS wrote in a document.
This  nightmarish reality if it comes to fruition will see everyone scrutinized and  their bio identics in numerous government databases. This would allow anyone  access to our biometrics at any single point in time, whether that's our  fingerprints, face, voice, or financial purchases for advertisers.
If  that wasn't bad enough, Chinese scientists have recently developed an artificial  intelligence (AI) enabled 500 megapixel cloud camera that's capable of panoramic  capture of an entire stadium with the ability to target a single individual in  an instant, Global Times reported.
The  upgrade to facial recognition technology is developed by Shanghai-based Fudan  University and Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics of  Chinese Academy of Sciences in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin  Province.
Fudan  University and Changchun Institute of Optics aren't the first researchers to  advance facial recognition. There is also Shanghai-based YITU Technology which  has evolved the facial recognition industry by being able to identify a person  within a matter of seconds from a database of people, even if only their partial  face is visible, CNBC reported.
The  evolution of facial recognition technology is further documented by researchers  at the University of Bradford have found that "facial recognition technology  works even when only half a face is visible," according to EurekAlert. Although,  this upgraded technology hasn't been tested by police to this writer's  knowledge, and let's hope that it never is, for if it does civil liberties and  privacy will cease to exist.
If  Americans aren't careful we will soon have the same surveillance state and  facial recognition dystopia that Chinese citizens now have in 2019.  
Already,  facial recognition cameras are being suggested to be installed in subways,  trains and bus stations like recently in New York. Earlier this year, the head  of the MTA's finance committee, Larry Schwartz, called for the installation of  surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology to catch and deter  criminals.
Although,  the Chinese have gotten a head start on everyone with their social credit  program that is already being flaunted in the U.S. and its world-famous Chinese  Firewall preventing its populace from speaking out, arresting dissidents,  imprisoning Muslim Uygurs aided by big tech like Google.
Privacy  advocate groups, attorneys, and even more recently Microsoft, which also markets  its own facial recognition system, have all raised concerns over the technology,  pointing to issues of consent, racial profiling, and the potential to use images  gathered through facial recognition cameras as evidence of criminal guilt by law  enforcement.
"We  don't want to live in a world where government bureaucrats can enter in your  name into a database and get a record of where you've been and what your  financial, political, sexual, and medical associations and activities are," Jay  Stanley, an attorney with ACLU, told BuzzFeed News about the use of facial  recognition cameras in retail stores. "And we don't want a world in which people  are being stopped and hassled by authorities because they bear resemblance to  some scary character."
Meanwhile  in the UK, YouGov carried out Britain's first national survey on public opinion  regarding the use of facial recognition tech by the Ada Lovelace Institute. The  institute found that, out of 4,109 adults aged over 16 questioned on the  opinions of the technology -- a massive 55 percent said they wanted the UK  government to impose restrictions on the tech.
In  addition, a 46 percent of respondents said they want the right to opt-out of the  use of facial recognition technology and 61 percent of people opposed the use of  facial recognition tech on public transport.
On  the other side of the hemisphere, another national survey in the U.S. of 3,151  U.S. adults in December take by the Center for Data Innovation, found only one  in four Americans believe the federal government should strictly limit the use  of facial recognition biometrics technology.
The  survey also indicated Americans are more likely to support a trade-off to their  own privacy caused by biometric technology if it benefits law enforcement,  reduces shoplifting or speeds up airport security lines.
Only  18 percent of those polled stated they agreed with strict limitations on facial  recognition tech if it comes at the expense of public safety, compared to 55  percent who disagreed with such limitations.
However,  a poll from the Brookings Institution in September 2018 contradicts that and  found half of Americans favored limitations of the use of facial recognition by  law enforcement, while 42 percent felt it invaded personal privacy  rights.
There  is still hope for Americans with Congressmen being opposed to the use of the  technology and calling for a "halt" of its deployment. However, despite  Congressional hearings on the matter police departments across the U.S. like  Detroit have decided to go forward with a facial recognition program for police.  The program has already drawn severe blowback with activists protesting the  decision.
Already,  we have had several wins in this long fight and there are signs of hope. First,  San Francisco banned facial recognition technology being used by the government  in May of this year, then Somerville, Massachusetts, and Oakland, California  followed suit.
The  rapid growth of this technology has triggered a much-needed debate to slow down  the roll out. Activists, politicians, academics and even police forces all over  the world are expressing serious concerns over the impact facial recognition  could have on our society.
Several  lawmakers have even chimed in to voice concerns about Amazon's facial  recognition software, expressing worry that it could be misused, The Hill  reported.
A  Senate bill introduced in March would force companies who want to use facial  recognition technology on consumers to first get their consent. If that happens  as soon as the ink is dry Amazon's Ring and Amazon's Facial Recognition which  heavily relies on facial recognition technology could be banned across the  U.S.
Congress  under the House Oversight Committee recently held a bipartisan discussion on the  issue of regulating the use of facial recognition technology and biometric  cameras.
House  Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said, "there are virtually  no controls .... Whatever walk of life you come from, you may be a part of this  [surveillance] process."
The  committee's top Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio.) also expressed "It's time  for a time out" on government use of the surveillance technology.
Fight  For The Future has previously launched a first-of-its-kind interactive map that  tracks where in the U.S. facial recognition technology is being used and where  it is being resisted, along with a tool-kit for local activists who want to help  kickstart a ban in their city or state, as Activist Post reported.
Consent  to be identified by the government whenever and wherever we go is approval to  have the government decide whether, when, and where we are allowed to travel  like China. Making our faces be our travel card is put bluntly: a very dangerous  precedent to allow.
We  can't change our facial structures, all of a sudden you could find yourself  being blocked from services just because the government doesn't like you or your  politics.
If  all else fails, I suppose we could all use anti-facial recognition lasers like  the protesters in Hong Kong did to disrupt the systems. At least until the  artificial intelligence evolves to the point which even George Orwell couldn't  have imagined.
THIS IS NOT SPAM...CHECK OUT MY BUSINESS.... THIS IS AMAZING!!!
I RELAX EVERY NIGHT WITH ESSENTIAL OILS. GO TO WWW.YOUNGLIVING.COM. IF YOU ARE  INTERESTED, CONTACT ME VIA THIS EMAIL, AND I WILL GIVE MORE DETAILS. I PROMISE  YOU THAT YOU WILL ENJOY THIS AS MUCH AS I DO. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.... CONTACT  INFO:email: trsii2004@msn.com
TERRY SEEMAN - DISTRIBUTOR # 16084320
 - By Aaron Kesel -   
TERRY SEEMAN - DISTRIBUTOR # 16084320
China  wants to give its prisoners (populace) the ability to pay with their faces to  ride subways; this will be combined with its social credit program -- which  already tracks the communist nation's citizens traveling -- and if points are  too low, it prevents travel.
The  new program, which must have been assembled from George Orwell's apparent  instruction manual 1984, is slowly rolling out throughout China in several  cities, The Standard reported.
In  Shenzhen, China, home of OnePlus, Huawei and internet giant Tencent, the city  has released a new government system for elderly Chinese. This new program will  allow residents of China over the age of 60 to register for free subway rides,  using just their face as their ticket.
If  you think this is just a one-off, you would be utterly wrong. This form of  facial recognition is already being experimented in other cities including  Jinan, Shanghai and Nanjing according to the South China Morning  Post.
China  is planning to merge its 170+ million security cameras with artificial  intelligence and facial recognition technology to create a mega-surveillance  state. This compounds with China's "social credit system" that ranks citizens  based on their behavior, and rewards and punishes depending on those  scores.
The  effort of using facial recognition as a ticket -- especially as an incentive --  is spreading across the world, starting with entertainment concert venues which  Fight For The Future and dozens of artists strongly oppose as Activist Post  reported. 
That's  not all -- even retail is pushing to forcefully indoctrinate society to use  facial recognition technology as an anti-theft mechanism to be introduced in a  thousands of stores using biometric software FaceFirst to build a database of  shoplifters, as Activist Post reported.
Lately,  BIG brother has been pushing the use of surveillance technology, from Amazon  helping law enforcement with its Facial Rekogntion software, DHS wanting to use  it for border control, to the Olympics wanting to use the tech for  security.
Further,  some of the biggest airports in the U.S. -- estimated at 16 airports across the  nation -- are now scanning us as we board international flights. CBP (Customs  And Border Patrol) expects to scale up the program to cover more than 97 percent  of passengers flying outside of the U.S. by 2021 according to  NextGov.
It's  all a part of U.S. President Donald Trump's "Biometric Exit" agenda, which was  originally signed into law under the Obama administration, BuzzFeed News  reported.
Further,  the policy director of U.S. CBP believes that facial recognition has already  become essential. The agency's head Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner John  Wagner has also hilariously said that its facial tracking technology isn't  surveillance, as Activist Post reported.
In  2017, Homeland Security clarified their position on domestic spying stating that  Americans who don't want their faces scanned leaving the country "shouldn't  travel."
"The  only way for an individual to ensure he or she is not subject to collection of  biometric information when traveling internationally is to refrain from  traveling," the DHS wrote in a document.
This  nightmarish reality if it comes to fruition will see everyone scrutinized and  their bio identics in numerous government databases. This would allow anyone  access to our biometrics at any single point in time, whether that's our  fingerprints, face, voice, or financial purchases for advertisers.
If  that wasn't bad enough, Chinese scientists have recently developed an artificial  intelligence (AI) enabled 500 megapixel cloud camera that's capable of panoramic  capture of an entire stadium with the ability to target a single individual in  an instant, Global Times reported.
The  upgrade to facial recognition technology is developed by Shanghai-based Fudan  University and Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics of  Chinese Academy of Sciences in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin  Province.
Fudan  University and Changchun Institute of Optics aren't the first researchers to  advance facial recognition. There is also Shanghai-based YITU Technology which  has evolved the facial recognition industry by being able to identify a person  within a matter of seconds from a database of people, even if only their partial  face is visible, CNBC reported.
The  evolution of facial recognition technology is further documented by researchers  at the University of Bradford have found that "facial recognition technology  works even when only half a face is visible," according to EurekAlert. Although,  this upgraded technology hasn't been tested by police to this writer's  knowledge, and let's hope that it never is, for if it does civil liberties and  privacy will cease to exist.
If  Americans aren't careful we will soon have the same surveillance state and  facial recognition dystopia that Chinese citizens now have in 2019.  
Already,  facial recognition cameras are being suggested to be installed in subways,  trains and bus stations like recently in New York. Earlier this year, the head  of the MTA's finance committee, Larry Schwartz, called for the installation of  surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology to catch and deter  criminals.
Although,  the Chinese have gotten a head start on everyone with their social credit  program that is already being flaunted in the U.S. and its world-famous Chinese  Firewall preventing its populace from speaking out, arresting dissidents,  imprisoning Muslim Uygurs aided by big tech like Google.
Privacy  advocate groups, attorneys, and even more recently Microsoft, which also markets  its own facial recognition system, have all raised concerns over the technology,  pointing to issues of consent, racial profiling, and the potential to use images  gathered through facial recognition cameras as evidence of criminal guilt by law  enforcement.
"We  don't want to live in a world where government bureaucrats can enter in your  name into a database and get a record of where you've been and what your  financial, political, sexual, and medical associations and activities are," Jay  Stanley, an attorney with ACLU, told BuzzFeed News about the use of facial  recognition cameras in retail stores. "And we don't want a world in which people  are being stopped and hassled by authorities because they bear resemblance to  some scary character."
Meanwhile  in the UK, YouGov carried out Britain's first national survey on public opinion  regarding the use of facial recognition tech by the Ada Lovelace Institute. The  institute found that, out of 4,109 adults aged over 16 questioned on the  opinions of the technology -- a massive 55 percent said they wanted the UK  government to impose restrictions on the tech.
In  addition, a 46 percent of respondents said they want the right to opt-out of the  use of facial recognition technology and 61 percent of people opposed the use of  facial recognition tech on public transport.
On  the other side of the hemisphere, another national survey in the U.S. of 3,151  U.S. adults in December take by the Center for Data Innovation, found only one  in four Americans believe the federal government should strictly limit the use  of facial recognition biometrics technology.
The  survey also indicated Americans are more likely to support a trade-off to their  own privacy caused by biometric technology if it benefits law enforcement,  reduces shoplifting or speeds up airport security lines.
Only  18 percent of those polled stated they agreed with strict limitations on facial  recognition tech if it comes at the expense of public safety, compared to 55  percent who disagreed with such limitations.
However,  a poll from the Brookings Institution in September 2018 contradicts that and  found half of Americans favored limitations of the use of facial recognition by  law enforcement, while 42 percent felt it invaded personal privacy  rights.
There  is still hope for Americans with Congressmen being opposed to the use of the  technology and calling for a "halt" of its deployment. However, despite  Congressional hearings on the matter police departments across the U.S. like  Detroit have decided to go forward with a facial recognition program for police.  The program has already drawn severe blowback with activists protesting the  decision.
Already,  we have had several wins in this long fight and there are signs of hope. First,  San Francisco banned facial recognition technology being used by the government  in May of this year, then Somerville, Massachusetts, and Oakland, California  followed suit.
The  rapid growth of this technology has triggered a much-needed debate to slow down  the roll out. Activists, politicians, academics and even police forces all over  the world are expressing serious concerns over the impact facial recognition  could have on our society.
Several  lawmakers have even chimed in to voice concerns about Amazon's facial  recognition software, expressing worry that it could be misused, The Hill  reported.
A  Senate bill introduced in March would force companies who want to use facial  recognition technology on consumers to first get their consent. If that happens  as soon as the ink is dry Amazon's Ring and Amazon's Facial Recognition which  heavily relies on facial recognition technology could be banned across the  U.S.
Congress  under the House Oversight Committee recently held a bipartisan discussion on the  issue of regulating the use of facial recognition technology and biometric  cameras.
House  Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said, "there are virtually  no controls .... Whatever walk of life you come from, you may be a part of this  [surveillance] process."
The  committee's top Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio.) also expressed "It's time  for a time out" on government use of the surveillance technology.
Fight  For The Future has previously launched a first-of-its-kind interactive map that  tracks where in the U.S. facial recognition technology is being used and where  it is being resisted, along with a tool-kit for local activists who want to help  kickstart a ban in their city or state, as Activist Post reported.
Consent  to be identified by the government whenever and wherever we go is approval to  have the government decide whether, when, and where we are allowed to travel  like China. Making our faces be our travel card is put bluntly: a very dangerous  precedent to allow.
We  can't change our facial structures, all of a sudden you could find yourself  being blocked from services just because the government doesn't like you or your  politics.
If  all else fails, I suppose we could all use anti-facial recognition lasers like  the protesters in Hong Kong did to disrupt the systems. At least until the  artificial intelligence evolves to the point which even George Orwell couldn't  have imagined.
THIS IS NOT SPAM...CHECK OUT MY BUSINESS.... THIS IS AMAZING!!!
I RELAX EVERY NIGHT WITH ESSENTIAL OILS. GO TO WWW.YOUNGLIVING.COM. IF YOU ARE  INTERESTED, CONTACT ME VIA THIS EMAIL, AND I WILL GIVE MORE DETAILS. I PROMISE  YOU THAT YOU WILL ENJOY THIS AS MUCH AS I DO. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.... CONTACT  INFO:email: trsii2004@msn.com
TERRY SEEMAN - DISTRIBUTOR # 16084320
TERRY SEEMAN - DISTRIBUTOR # 16084320
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