Chinese cities install facial recognition software to tackle jaywalking

Latest practice by Chinese cities have met with concerns that it may violate pedestrians' privacy

Efforts by some Chinese cities to use facial recognition software to shame jaywalkers have been met with concerns that the practice may violate pedestrians’ privacy.

Cities including Jiangbei, Jinan, and Suqian have recently implemented facial recognition software at busy intersections after the system was first launched in Shenzhen in April.

The initiative is the latest attempt to discourage the common practice of jaywalking, in which pedestrians, drivers, cyclists, and other road users disregard traffic rules and cross the street when the lights tell them to wait. Pedestrians are known to cross intersections in packs, disrupting the flow of traffic.

The system in Jinan