In a single late September video that I discovered notably insightful, an individual who seems to be a WeChat worker could be heard instructing individuals to place their palms in entrance of a recognition system and file their palm prints. “New function of WeChat Pay. Everyone seems to be welcome to attempt our service and help us,” the voice says. In return, the customers who scan their palms can get a soda for the value of 1 cent.
The consumer who later uploaded the video asks when this function was launched, and the voice replies that it began half a yr in the past however solely not too long ago got here to Guangzhou.
The fee units in these movies are iPad-size white packing containers with one display screen exhibiting directions and a digital camera capturing the palm knowledge. It’s unclear whether or not they’re meant just for testing the performance of palm-print recognition expertise or for amassing extra knowledge to assist fine-tune it (or each). Not one of the related movies point out that prospects are being advised how their knowledge will likely be used. I requested Tencent for a remark however I haven’t heard again.
Irrespective of their precise use, the units are possible nonetheless within the trial part, as they’re usually proven alongside a observe saying “Trial location for WeChat palm-print scan fee” or “Inner testing. Please don’t inform exterior individuals.” In a single photograph posted on-line, a written warning states that images of the system is prohibited.
(Lol, this clearly didn’t cease individuals from taking pictures. And movies. And importing them to the web.)
This reporting expertise reaffirms an concept I’ve had for a very long time: It’s arduous to know what’s taking place in China from the skin, each due to the highly effective censorship machine and due to the border insurance policies that make visiting China troublesome. But Chinese language video platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou—that are changing conventional websites like Weibo to grow to be the place the place individuals specific themselves and doc their lives—can present extra perception than ever. For the reason that content material of movies is much less search-friendly than texts, they’re more durable to kind by, however in addition they usually pack extra info into only a few seconds.
Clearly, there’s way more to the story of palm-print recognition than this preview. Why is the expertise having a second now, after facial recognition has thrived for years? How has the pandemic, which made face masks widespread, modified its course of growth? How may the rising consciousness of knowledge privateness assist or damage the prospect of palm-print recognition? There are lots of extra fascinating discussions available in regards to the technological and moral features of the expertise, and I’ll tackle them within the full story that we’ll publish quickly. I’ll make sure you hyperlink within the subsequent publication.
Till then! I’ll see you once more subsequent week (or possibly in particular person this week!).
