More than 240 metro stations throughout Moscow now permit passengers to pay for a trip by taking a look at a digicam. The Moscow metro has launched what authorities say is the primary mass-scale deployment of a facial recognition fee system. According to The Guardian, passengers can entry the fee possibility known as FacePay by linking their picture, financial institution card and metro card to the system by way of the Mosmetro app. “Now all passengers will be able to pay for travel without taking out their phone, Troika or bank card,” Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin tweeted.

In the official Moscow web site’s announcement, the nation’s Department of Transport stated all Face Pay data can be encrypted. The cameras on the designated turnstyles will learn a passenger’s biometric key solely, and authorities stated data collected for the system can be saved in knowledge facilities that may solely be accessed by inside ministry workers. Moscow’s Department of Information Technology has additionally assured customers that pictures submitted to the system will not be handed over to the cops.

Still, privateness advocates are involved over the rising use of facial recognition within the metropolis. Back in 2017, officers added facial recognition tech to the town’s 170,000 safety cameras as a part of its efforts to ID criminals on the road. Activists filed a case in opposition to Moscow’s Department of Technology a couple of years later in hopes of convincing the courts to ban the usage of the know-how. However, a courtroom in Moscow sided with the town, deciding that its use of facial recognition doesn’t violate the privateness of residents. Reuters reported earlier this yr, although, that these cameras had been additionally used to determine protesters who attended rallies.

Stanislav Shakirov, the founding father of Roskomsvoboda, a gaggle that goals to guard Russians’ digital rights, stated in a press release:

“We are moving closer to authoritarian countries like China that have mastered facial technology. The Moscow metro is a government institution and all the data can end up in the hands of the security services.”

Meanwhile, the European Parliament known as on lawmakers within the EU earlier this month to ban automated facial recognition in public areas. It cited proof that facial recognition AI can nonetheless misidentify PoCs, members of the LGBTI+ neighborhood, seniors and girls at increased charges. In the US, native governments are banning the usage of the know-how in public areas, together with statewide bans by Massachusetts and Maine. Four Democratic lawmakers additionally proposed a invoice to ban the federal authorities from utilizing facial recognition.