Facial Recognition Spots Criminal in Crowd of 60,000

In China, there's nowhere to hide from the combo of cameras, facial recognition, AI, and all-knowing database.

The Chinese government's solution to keeping things running smoothly involves strict controls on everything from the Internet to how individuals go about their daily lives. In order to do that, China has setup a network of over 170 million security cameras, all of which are hooked up to an ever-improving facial recognition system. Even the police in China are starting to wear facial recognition glasses!

So it should come as no surprise that the police there just managed to catch a suspected criminal who thought he'd be safe in a crowd of 60,000 people.

As the BBC reports, the man in question is 31-year-old Mr Ao, and he was wanted by the police for "economic crimes," the details of which have now been released. He was caught while attending a Jacky Cheung concert in Nanchang city last weekend. Everyone entering the concert venue must pass by a camera. Mr Ao's face must have been on record as the camera and facial recognition system flagged him up.

The police reacted quickly and surrounded him after he had taken his seat for the concert. Apparently Mr Ao was simply "shocked" he had been found, clearly believing he'd be safe among so many people and at such a busy event. He was wrong, and the authorities don't mind everyone knowing that as it acts as a warning to others.

China's monitoring system works through a combination of cameras, facial recognition, artificial intelligence, and a central database. When a face is detected, the central database is accessed and an individual's details retrieved. Those details can include name, gender, ethnicity, full address, and whether they have been charged with any crimes or have outstanding warrants. In Mr Ao's case, the outstanding warrants details would have triggered the alert.

- Matthew Humpheries

My take: There are those out there i'm sure that never got the message from movies like 1984, Logan's Run or books such as A Brave New World. They say if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear but i wonder what these people thought the founding fathers were doing putting so many safeguards and checks and balances into our government system. Conservative Christians seem to love these surveillance methods and have no problem with them but they also see in the near future an anti-christ that can track you everywhere and make sure you have the mark of the beast. I would go back to where the founding fathers put in so many safeguards to our government. They knew it would not always be about being a bad boy, it would also be about what you believe politically or religiously, religious and political persecution of which their recent history was relatively fresh. Smart people realize this and foresee this. Be smart. Opposing privacy intrusion is not about siding with criminals or terrorists as lying manipulating politicians may tell you, it's about safeguarding your children's future against the tyranny of an all seeing despotic eye of which those manipulating politicians are full aware but are willing to bet your future on a little present political gain for themselves. 
Benjamin Franklin, one of those founding fathers said. "If you are willing to give up a little freedom for a little security you deserve neither." He could have and would have said; If you accept all encompassing surveillance to protect yourself and your possessions you deserve to lose them anyway. Jesus said: " If you try to save your life you will lose it. Consider these and use a little wisdom and a little foresight next time it matters. 
If the "you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear" people win out just where do you think were headed and don't think there are not those in high places in U.S. corporate America and Wall Street that strive for societal certainty and stability believing it cements their economic status and believing all encompassing surveillance will provide that certainty and that stability. 
The founding fathers knew full well the nature of man and you and I would be a fool to believe that nature has changed. We would be a fool to doubt the ends to which men of wealth and power will go. They are, you should know, not immune to great delusion.

You say this is only China but the trajectory of the world is not toward division it is toward a unified whole. The strongest measures to protect freedom, privacy and justice for all individuals must be maintained at all times, the freedom to believe as you want and reasonably express it and the right to keep it private if you want. 
You better get a grip and you better start getting it now....