Casino Facial Recognition Pushed in Macau After Robbery

29.05.2019, 12:38

Macau lawmakers are now pushing for better facial recognition technology adoption in casinos. The message could not have been more timely after $382k were robbed from Four Seasons casino. Robbers were quickly arrested, but, according to the police, it could have been done sooner if all of the robbers could have been identified earlier.

Local lawmaker Lam Lon Wai was the one to propose the idea. His reasoning was the rise of casino-related crime rate by 14% since 2018. Not to mention, the overall crime rate rose to 8%, another call to action for the authorities.

Speaking of security, about 1,620 cameras are planned to be installed in the city. That, however, is not enough, according to Lam. His concern is that the security cameras might not do much due to privacy laws.

Therefore, his colleagues have requested that such facial recognition would become mandatory for casinos. Lawmaker Leong Sun Iok asked the local gaming regulator to include the requirement into the next licensing refreshment.

Such laws seem to emulate certain tactics of mainland China. The country is notorious for the number of cameras on every corner. However, privacy concerns in Macau also mirror the mainland. China uses drones to combat illegal gambling. These are often used without considerations for privacy.

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