Chinese court orders wildlife park to delete facial recognition data as privacy concerns grow

Wildlife park’s change from a fingerprint-based entry system to facial recognition without user consent was not legitimate, court found. Concern about the need to regulate the massive application of surveillance technology is growing among Chinese citizens. — SCMP

A court in east China has ordered a wildlife park to delete the facial recognition data of a law professor and pay him compensation in the first case of its kind in the world’s second-largest market for surveillance systems.

Guo Bing, an associate law professor at Zhejiang Sci-tech University, sued Hangzhou Safari Park late last year for breach of contract after it replaced the identification system used for his annual membership from a fingerprint-based entry system to one that uses facial recognition.