In one late September video that I discovered notably insightful, an individual who seems to be a WeChat worker could be heard instructing folks to place their arms in entrance of a recognition gadget and document their palm prints. “New feature of WeChat Pay. Everyone is welcome to try our service and support 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 just lately got here to Guangzhou.
The fee units in these movies are iPad-size white containers with one display screen displaying 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 know-how or for accumulating extra knowledge to assist fine-tune it (or each). None of the related movies point out that prospects are being informed how their knowledge can be used. I requested Tencent for a remark however I haven’t heard again.
No matter their actual use, the units are doubtless nonetheless within the trial part, as they’re usually proven alongside a be aware saying “Trial location for WeChat palm-print scan payment” or “Internal testing. Please don’t tell external people.” In one picture posted on-line, a written warning states that pictures of the gadget is prohibited.
(Lol, this clearly didn’t cease folks from taking images. And movies. And importing them to the web.)
This reporting expertise reaffirms an thought I’ve had for a very long time: It’s laborious to know what’s occurring in China from the skin, each due to the highly effective censorship machine and due to the border insurance policies that make visiting China tough. Yet Chinese video platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou—that are changing conventional websites like Weibo to change into the place the place folks categorical themselves and doc their lives—can present extra perception than ever. Since the content material of movies is much less search-friendly than texts, they’re tougher to kind by means of, however in addition they usually pack extra data into just some seconds.
Obviously, there’s rather more to the story of palm-print recognition than this preview. Why is the know-how 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 growing consciousness of information privateness assist or damage the prospect of palm-print recognition? There are many extra attention-grabbing discussions available concerning the technological and moral facets of the know-how, and I’ll deal with them within the full story that we’ll publish quickly. I’ll you’ll want to hyperlink within the subsequent publication.
Until then! I’ll see you once more subsequent week (or possibly in particular person this week!).