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The bigger question is why are China advertising this 1) Was the man actually caught by someone acting undercover and they want to protect the agent's identity

The bigger question is why are China advertising this 1) Was the man actually caught by someone acting undercover and they want to protect the agent's identity with plausable deniability 2) Does the system not actually work very well (say a 1 in 100k hit rate), but they want people to think that if they are wanted, they can't hide, so they'll either turn themselves in, or be less likely to do the (unspecified) crime in the first place 3) Is there pressure that this project is overrunning/overbudget and they need a PR win to keep those higher up in the government happy

ktta 9y ago
I think it is closer to your 3rd possibility. There's also the possibility that they want to show (fake) the supposed power of this system even to their own citizens to elevate the apparent reach of the government. Say what you want about rights, but Chinese government is ruthlessly efficient about what it wants done, and it rarely loses (except for the recent trade relations fiasco)
- coldtea 9y ago
  >except for the recent trade relations fiasco Assuming it was a fiasco, which is not very clearly the case (if you speak about the tarrifs thing).
tener 9y ago
Maybe they just want to show off to discourage any trouble makers (including political ones)?
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
dbkaplun 9y ago
Perhaps China is advertising this to deter crime, as a potential criminal might worry about facial recognition before doing something illegal.
- randomsearch 9y ago
  "crime"
  - coldtea 9y ago
    There does exist such thing as "crime", even in China (imagine that). It's not all angelic citizens and among them, some angelic dissidents.
    - logfromblammo 9y ago
      The surveillance AI knows nothing of the difference between malum in se (crime!) and malum prohibitum ("crime"). The pamphleteer protesting local corruption and the strongarm robber are caught in the same trap.
      - root_axis 9y ago
        > The surveillance AI knows nothing of the difference between malum in se (crime!) and malum prohibitum ("crime") And for the humans in charge of the AI there is no such distinction so the AI is working as intended.
ataturk 9y ago
Some kind of Orwellian world we inhabit ain't it? And here I thought those '80s dystopian/cyberpunk sci-fi films where the street hackers had random slashes of paint on their faces was just some kind of edgy tribal thing! In fact, it was as though someone had a time machine and went back and planted those ideas somehow.
jfoster 9y ago
Why not advertise it? Possible reasons: 1. Maybe wanted criminals would change their appearance or hide their faces. Even that outcome might be a significant deterrent to committing crimes, going forward. 2. Public discontent about the system. This is unlikely to be much of a problem in China. They have a lot more to gain (deterrence) than they do to lose.
mtgx 9y ago
I don't know if this is the main reason, but I read an article saying that Chinese companies were starting to export this tech to other countries. So that would be one way to "advertise" its effectiveness. Also, the more China gets other countries to enable the same kind of censorship and surveillance it does, too, the more it won't stand-out as a sore thumb and the less it will be called out by "principled" leaders in the future.
_pmf_ 9y ago
> The bigger question is why are China advertising this Striking fear into citizens; literally state terrorism.
- Clubber 9y ago
  Contrast with the US which keeps it's NSA spying and data collection private. Until it isn't.
  - _pmf_ 9y ago
    > Contrast with the US which keeps it's NSA spying and data collection private. Until it isn't. I think the USA is a bit behind China and the UK in applying surveillance technology to target individuals for petty things. Sure , it's technologically viable, but it seems there's no will yet to punish the evil jay walker with the full force of law.
Spooky23 9y ago
It’s a deterrent and a positive press hit. State DMVs in the US get press hits all of the time when they upgrade facial recognition systems and catch people with multiple driver licenses.
coldtea 9y ago
Or, you know, 4) the project works very well, and they want to advertise it and instill some fear in people...
- fredley 9y ago
  And/or sell the system. Plenty of regimes out there that would love this capability.
  - alex_duf 9y ago
    That would be my guess. It was probably expensive so they are looking to sell it.
- volgo 9y ago
  That would be admitting that Chinese technologies are gaining momentum. Not something you're suppose to say here on HN :)
drpgq 9y ago
I've worked in the industry for since 2003. Algorithm improvements in the past few years have been impressive. Plus if you set up a decent chokepoint at the ticket gate and get good images things are even easier for the algorithm.
- bsenftner 9y ago
  Are you at ISC West?

ktta 9y ago

I think it is closer to your 3rd possibility. There's also the possibility that they want to show (fake) the supposed power of this system even to their own citizens to elevate the apparent reach of the government. Say what you want about rights, but Chinese government is ruthlessly efficient about what it wants done, and it rarely loses (except for the recent trade relations fiasco)

coldtea 9y ago
>except for the recent trade relations fiasco Assuming it was a fiasco, which is not very clearly the case (if you speak about the tarrifs thing).

tener 9y ago

Maybe they just want to show off to discourage any trouble makers (including political ones)?

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

dbkaplun 9y ago

Perhaps China is advertising this to deter crime, as a potential criminal might worry about facial recognition before doing something illegal.

randomsearch 9y ago
"crime"
- coldtea 9y ago
  There does exist such thing as "crime", even in China (imagine that). It's not all angelic citizens and among them, some angelic dissidents.
  - logfromblammo 9y ago
    The surveillance AI knows nothing of the difference between malum in se (crime!) and malum prohibitum ("crime"). The pamphleteer protesting local corruption and the strongarm robber are caught in the same trap.
    - root_axis 9y ago
      > The surveillance AI knows nothing of the difference between malum in se (crime!) and malum prohibitum ("crime") And for the humans in charge of the AI there is no such distinction so the AI is working as intended.

ataturk 9y ago

Some kind of Orwellian world we inhabit ain't it? And here I thought those '80s dystopian/cyberpunk sci-fi films where the street hackers had random slashes of paint on their faces was just some kind of edgy tribal thing! In fact, it was as though someone had a time machine and went back and planted those ideas somehow.

jfoster 9y ago

Why not advertise it? Possible reasons: 1. Maybe wanted criminals would change their appearance or hide their faces. Even that outcome might be a significant deterrent to committing crimes, going forward. 2. Public discontent about the system. This is unlikely to be much of a problem in China. They have a lot more to gain (deterrence) than they do to lose.

mtgx 9y ago

I don't know if this is the main reason, but I read an article saying that Chinese companies were starting to export this tech to other countries. So that would be one way to "advertise" its effectiveness. Also, the more China gets other countries to enable the same kind of censorship and surveillance it does, too, the more it won't stand-out as a sore thumb and the less it will be called out by "principled" leaders in the future.

_pmf_ 9y ago

> The bigger question is why are China advertising this Striking fear into citizens; literally state terrorism.

Clubber 9y ago
Contrast with the US which keeps it's NSA spying and data collection private. Until it isn't.
- _pmf_ 9y ago
  > Contrast with the US which keeps it's NSA spying and data collection private. Until it isn't. I think the USA is a bit behind China and the UK in applying surveillance technology to target individuals for petty things. Sure , it's technologically viable, but it seems there's no will yet to punish the evil jay walker with the full force of law.

Spooky23 9y ago

It’s a deterrent and a positive press hit. State DMVs in the US get press hits all of the time when they upgrade facial recognition systems and catch people with multiple driver licenses.

coldtea 9y ago

Or, you know, 4) the project works very well, and they want to advertise it and instill some fear in people...

fredley 9y ago
And/or sell the system. Plenty of regimes out there that would love this capability.
- alex_duf 9y ago
  That would be my guess. It was probably expensive so they are looking to sell it.
volgo 9y ago
That would be admitting that Chinese technologies are gaining momentum. Not something you're suppose to say here on HN :)

drpgq 9y ago

I've worked in the industry for since 2003. Algorithm improvements in the past few years have been impressive. Plus if you set up a decent chokepoint at the ticket gate and get good images things are even easier for the algorithm.

bsenftner 9y ago
Are you at ISC West?