Efforts for adopting facial recognition technology have been ramped up in Malaysia as global business competitors are adopting it to stay ahead.
Malaysia’s acceptance of facial technology has proven to be positive as Penang launched the first facial recognition CCTV for surveillance purposes and combating crimes in the state, in January this year.
At the launch, the Chief Minister stated that the monitoring via CCTV is an initiative by the Penang state government to reduce crime, especially street crimes, in an effort to maintain the safety and well-being of the people.
The government spent MYR46.2 million (US$11.15 million) on the cameras thus far and said that the current project involves spending another MYR 12 million (US$2.9 million) on the technology and on the installation of an additional 150 cameras.
Penang Island City Council Mayor believes that the new system can help increase the efficiency of the police force in preventing and resolving criminal cases
The cutting-edge biometrics confirms one’s identity by verifying facial features from a picture or video. The use of this technology has spread across the public and private applications ranging from the access and security functions, payments, advertising, healthcare and hospitality.
Few firms also adopted the system; one has also integrated body-mounted cameras with facial recognition software in February 2018.
The Malaysian Transport Ministry has installed the face recognition system to mitigate passenger-related crimes.
A new eToken with built-in facial recognition authentication by the supporting bank is another step taken in Malaysia. The technology is aimed to assist small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in offering secure and seamless transactions to the public.
A Malaysian event management company has deployed a new event management system that uses facial recognition check-in. The system’s task is to identify the attendees based on the images uploaded during pre-registration.
Attendees are identified by their facial points as soon as they walk in for registration and the system works 15 times faster than QR or barcode check-in.
This popular technology is favored by users as it is convenient and offers efficient service, including quicker check-ins. International events with large crowds would normally apply this technology and it worked better when compared to smaller events.
Curiosity drives Malaysians to always try something new, hence adapting to the facial recognition systems as a new way for future endeavors.
The functionality of facial recognition technology has been found to be beneficial in various aspects that aid daily activities. Evidence of this can be seen in social media, phones security and access, online advertising, centralized attendance systems and even finding missing pets.
Despite the numerous advantages gained from facial recognition technology, few instances (like its application as a surveillance tool for security purposes) have triggered concerns on ethics and legality of the system.
