In an approx. 2900-word sharply worded article posted on her public Wechat account on October 31, 2019, Tsinghua University Professor Lao Dongyan (劳东燕) expressed her worries about facial recognition technology. She called for stricter regulations on facial recognition. (Professor Lao Dongyan was one of nearly 300 faculty and students at Tsinghua who signed a letter in support of Tsinghua Professor Xu Zhangrun, suspended for criticisms of the Communist Party). Arguing against use of facial recognition in the Beijing Subway, Professor Lao Dongyan wrote: “I can only say: forgive me, but I cannot accept this type of kindness…We must know that in our society, any personal data, as long as it is controlled by enterprises or other institutions, is also controlled by the government. Because this huge organization is run by specific people, this is equivalent to saying that all personal data, including highly recognizable biometric data, are controlled by a few people in that group…The people who control our data are obviously not God. They have their own selfish desires and weak points. Therefore, it is unknown how they will use our personal data and how they will manipulate our lives. Not to mention, such data may be leaked or hacked due to improper storage, leading to harmful results that may be exploited by criminals." Stating that she also objected to forcing people to undergo face recognition inspections in airports and hotels, she asked whether In a few years genes or fingerprint recognition will be implemented, she recommended that the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee needs to conduct a basic legitimacy review of the Beijing Metro ’s use of face recognition for classified security checks; at the same time, it should consider initiating corresponding legislative procedures for the arbitrary use of faces. The practice of identification technology is legally regulated.
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