July 11, 2019

Facial Recognition and the Surveillance State

34 minutes

Facial recognition has moved beyond matching two grainy photos. Abundant, networked cameras, cheap data storage, and powerful AI has made biometric surveillance more invasive than ever. China has built a massive surveillance state designed to monitor and incarcerate Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region, and now Chinese firms are trying to sell those same tools to countries in the Gulf. But they're not alone. U.S. firms, like IBM, Amazon, and Microsoft, also spy a lucrative new market. Jen talks to Buzzfeed's Megha Rajagopalan about how this technology has changed, how it is being used around the world, and how it might be regulated.

Read more of Megha's reporting:

Facial Recognition Technology Is Facing A Huge Backlash In The US. But Some Of The World’s Biggest Tech Companies Are Trying To Sell It In The Gulf

Here’s How China Uses An App To Repress Muslims

China Has Also Been Targeting Foreigners In Its Brutal Crackdown On Muslims

US Universities And Retirees Are Funding The Technology Behind China’s Surveillance State

...more