Rabail Ghazanfar

Opinion paper: Why many in Hong Kong will not be smiling at facial recognition technology [Student Name] [Course] [Institution] 2 Opinion paper: Why many in Hong Kong will not be smiling at facial recognition technology Article posted on 6 November 2020 https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/-/why-many-hong-kong-will-not-besmiling-facial-recognition The article published in South China Morning Post combines numerous studies on the issues faced by the people due to the use of facial recognition technology during the pandemic. In the present time, these cameras are being used to detect the body temperature of people to find out the affected individuals. Like many places, Hong Kong faces concerns over the growing use of Facial recognition technology (“FRT”) in private and public sectors. During July 2019, serious protests and demonstration were provoked by the government‟s plan to install 400 smart lampposts. The original design of the panorama camera of smart lampposts was replaced by thermal detectors and LIDAR (Light Imaging Detection and Ranging) in response to public concern about surveillance and privacy. I partially agree with the notion that face recognition technologies are the only solution to address the issue faced by people. According to the article, the initiative of installing 400 cameras during the extradition bill movement in 2019 was declined due to privacy concern of people. However, this is not an adequate excuse for rejecting the use of technology as I think technology comes with numerous benefits that are not being discussed in the article. I partially support the idea given in the article as most of the people do not feel comfortable by being detected all the time whenever they go outside. Nevertheless, there are different reasons, behind the resistance of installation of kiosks, for instance, the government‟s failure to provide proper knowledge, lack of R&D practices and poor policy 3 implementation. However, this essay aims to provide opinion on the article entitled „Why many in Hong Kong will not be smiling at facial recognition technology‟ by focusing on the flaws in adapting the technological advancement in Hong Kong by providing a critical discourse on the issue. It can be seen that Hong Kongers are not used to such surveillance, which is one of the many reasons behind their dissatisfaction towards this technology. Moreover, the sudden change in people‟s life due to the utilization of advanced technology faced criticism and concern, but there was a possibility to reduce such reaction by educating people about the benefits attached to it. Technology is about „how something works‟ and it should be used with technique to give a positive impression. Nevertheless, when any change is being adopted without the knowledge of people, there is a possibility of resistance towards change. I think the process of deployment of facial recognition technology is slow in Hong Kong due to the resistance of people. There are numerous privacy threats attached to this technology, such as there is a possibility of data leakage. Despite the existence of the aforementioned social costs, there are numerous benefits provided by the technology such as a reduction in theft and other activities, organizational management and detection of virus beforehand. The detection of the virus allows the health department to take quick actions before the rapid dispersion of the virus. Henceforth, I think it is more important to educate people about the benefits of technology. For instance, the use of mobile phones in daily bases also comes with some social costs, but people still use them because the pros outrun the cons. In addition, the proper utilization of R&D is requisite for any initiative related to change. There is a possibility f encountering market failure when there is a conflict between knowledge and information. However, such a gap can be filled by the intervention of the state as it goes beyond the conception of market failure. Hence, it can be said 4 that the availability of proper knowledge and information can help the people in accepting the new technologies. Nonetheless, there are different policy tools related to innovation such as supply chain, regulations and standardization, demand-side and technology foresight. The tools, as mentioned earlier help in creating a better plan for the deployment of technology, coupled with appropriate policy interventions. While talking about the technological advancement in face recognition technology use of kiosks offered mix features including infrared body temperature scanning, mask detection and biometric facial recognition. The technology has numerous drawbacks which raised public concerns towards privacy. In my opinion, such technological reforms should be incorporated after the concern of the general public. The reason behind the rejection of the use of facial recognition technology is the concern of people towards the use of these videos. Nonetheless, the positive outcomes and utility provided by these cameras are being ignored. People need to understand the context behind using face detection technology. Sufficient knowledge about the functioning and the benefits it provides to the majority has the potential to change the perception of people towards the adaption of technology. Besides, the government needed to assess the behaviour of people towards the adoption of the face cameras before making the project functional to reduce the resistance. For this purpose R&D (research and development) needed to play its part to find out the long or short-term benefits through the proposed technological change. Such information can help in convincing the general public towards the usefulness of the deploying kiosks in Hong Kong. Moreover, in order to accept innovation, it is necessary to be open to new solutions and ideas, which is only possible via proper knowledge of technology. The deployment of kiosks in Hong Kong was an excellent initiative to protect the majority of people from getting infected by the virus, but the scarce knowledge towards the benefits fostered by the 5 facial technology made the project a failure. People perceived that it would threaten their privacy. Still, in reality, the face recognition cameras have the potential to provide numerous benefits, including tracing the missing individuals and providing security to different places. I think artificial intelligence has the potential to allow different individuals to misuse database in different scenarios. I agree with this concern, but the data can be stolen via hacking the mobile phones or laptops as well, it does not mean people would stop using them; instead, they will prefer to use advanced features or updated anti-virus software to minimize the risk. Same goes with the use of kiosks cameras, it is possible to misuse the videos, but the proper policy implementation for using these cameras and data can make things simpler and better for the general public. During the outbreak of the pandemic, kiosks helped in identifying the infected people, but the recording of videos was not a notion appreciated by the general public. Such practices can lead towards the negative response from the public against the government policies forcing them to change the policies. The article reflects the concern of people explaining that installation of face recognition technology is hindering the privacy rights of people. I think people were not adequately being educated towards the benefits of using kiosks in Hong Kong, which was one of the reasons behind the rejection of the change. In this regard, IS (Innovation system) approach plays an essential role building a connection between government and organization. It was necessary for the government to take assistance from different tech organizations as well as other institutions to check the response of people towards the utilization of kiosks. Furthermore, the IS system helps in checking the holistic performance of system instead of focusing on a single component. Hence, it is necessary to use scientific knowledge to bring technological innovation. At the same time, a precise change in the policymaking process is also a key attribute in creating awareness about a particular technological change. However, 6 the use of facial technology is reckoned as a quick policy stance from the government in order to reduce the cases of Covid-19. Additionally, most of the people do not like to be recorded on video cameras and utilization of such technologies increases their privacy concern. In conclusion, it can be said that technological advancement needs to be deployed cautiously in order to reduce the massive response. At the same time, the public knowledge and the utility provided by a good or service is an essential element that helps in winning the trust of the public. The awareness towards the utilization of these technologies and the way they will bring an optimistic change in the life of people is another matter of concern. While looking at the deployment of facial detection technology in Hong Kong, it can be seen that the policy was made without considering the majority response, which resulted in negative response from the general public. In addition, media can play an essential role in creating awareness towards a policy change in any field of life. It is necessary for the government to provide sufficient knowledge about innovation in different fields of life. Moreover, for long term programs, R&D is important to know the benefits and costs associated with a project. My opinion is partially in favour and against the idea of kiosks raising the privacy concerns in general people. However, I believe that there is a possibility of gaining more advantages from the utilization of face detection technology as compared to the disadvantages. Hence, the most important aspect lacking in the project was educating people towards the benefits attached to the policy intervention. Finally, different actors such as government, policymakers, health department and technology department need to join hands to facilitate the general public and listen to their concerns.