Facial recognition in video games comes with security risks, Chinese industry group warns
- The China Security and Protection Industry Association says that despite benefits, the wide use of facial recognition makes it ripe for abuse
- Tencent and NetEase use facial recognition in some games to limit the time minors spend playing video games
Facial recognition is ubiquitous in China these days, and it is used for everything from making payments to logging into video games. While consumers have become increasingly concerned about the technology’s privacy implications, it is now facing criticism from a state-sponsored industry group.
Facial recognition has both solved problems for consumers and introduced new security risks as a result of overuse, the China Security and Protection Industry Association (CSPIA) argues in an opinion piece it published on its China Security Network portal.
“In some unnecessary scenarios, exchanging one’s privacy for access will inevitably lead to other problems,” the association said.
Facial recognition is a double-edged sword, according to the association, because there are some real benefits to using it. The article uses gaming as an example, singling out an unnamed battle royale game, which it refers to using the Chinese nickname “chicken-eating game”. This use helps limit the time minors spend in the game and prevents them from spending their parents’ money on in-game purchases.
However, the article also notes that the explosion of use cases for facial recognition in China has created more opportunities for misuse and theft.