Singapore is planning on becoming the world’s first country to utilize facial recognition technology to identify citizens, alarming privacy advocates. Singapore announced plans to implement biometric checks to access government agencies, banking services, and other amenities through a face-scan. Some researchers say that the intrusive system is vulnerable to abuse, and could be disastrous for the population.
The new plan is part of Singapore’s mission to harness technology and is coupled with the increased use of electronic payments and research on driverless transportation. Although facial recognition has already been in use in several different forms across many countries, the new program in Singapore has raised alarm bells for some privacy experts. The idea of attaching facial verification to a national identification database is particularly dangerous, according to experts. The technology captures a series of photos of the target and matches it to data already available, including passport photos and ID pictures.
Read More: Singapore’s World-First Face Scan Plan Sparks Privacy Fears
