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Wanted man caught at concert thanks to facial recognition

Suspect thought he was safe among 70,000 concert-goers

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

He thought he was just another face in the crowd.

That was what a Chinese man told police when he was arrested at a music concert in China thanks to facial recognition technology.

The suspect -- who has only been identified by his surname, Ao -- was attending a concert  by Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung when police swooped after he was spotted by the venue’s security cameras.
Local media footage of the cameras used to capture Ao. (Picture: Kankan news).

He had been on a police watchlist for “economic crimes” -- a broad term that can include anything from tax evasion to the theft of public property.

Organizers say there were more than 50,000 people there -- a fact the suspect said he had hoped would help him hide.

“He didn’t anticipate being caught by the police in such a massive crowd,” one of the arresting officers told local media.
Authorities in China are increasingly turning towards technology, raising concerns around privacy in a country that has plenty of surveillance cameras and wants to build a national database of faces.
At a railway station in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, police have been equipped with “smart glasses” to locate faces matching their criminal database -- with officials claiming the technology has helped catch human trafficking suspects.

For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.

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