Coming on the heels of “I told you so,” China is using facial recognition to make sure you’re a good Chinese citizen.

Authorities in Shenzhen, China, have set up artificial intelligence-powered CCTV cameras to scan the faces of those who jaywalk at major intersections and display their identities on large LED screens for all to see.

If that isn’t punishment enough, plans are now in place to link the current system with cellular technology, so offenders will also be sent a text message with a fine as soon as they are caught crossing the road against traffic lights. via Newsweek

It gets worse, they’re already generating a social credit score for it’s citizens to determine whether or not you can travel on a train or plane.

Chinese authorities will begin revoking the travel privileges of those with low scores on its so-called “social credit system,” which ranks Chinese citizens based on comprehensive monitoring of their behavior. Those who fall afoul of the system could be blocked from rail and air travel for up to a year.

and,

But its CEO has said, in an eerie prefiguring of the new travel restrictions, that its system “will ensure that the bad people in society don’t have a place to go, while good people can move freely and without obstruction.” An Ant Financial spokesperson described that statement as referring to “the common good that a high trust-based society can bring in a generic sense. This is a widely used phrase in Chinese culture.” via Fortune

This is unprecedented and smells like something out of 1984.

Update: I stumbled across this article on how China is using facial recognition to thwart/stop toilet paper thieves. You only get 40 to 80 centimeters of toilet paper at a time.

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