BANGKOK: Protesters in Myanmar fear they are being tracked with Chinese facial recognition technology, as spiralling violence and street surveillance spark fears of a "digital dictatorship" to replace ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Human rights groups say the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to check on citizens' movements poses a "serious threat" to their liberty.
More than 200 people have been killed since Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi was overthrown in a Feb. 1 coup, triggering mass protests that security forces have struggled to suppress with increasingly violent tactics.
Security forces have focused on stamping out dissent in cities including the capital Naypyitaw, Yangon and Mandalay, where hundreds of CCTV cameras had been installed as part of a drive to improve governance and curb crime.
Human Rights Watch has expressed its "heightened concern" over cameras armed with AI technology that can scan faces and vehicle licence plates in public places, and alert authorities to those on a wanted list.
"Even before the protests, the CCTVs were a concern for us, so we would try and avoid them - by taking different routes to go home, for example," Win Pe Myaing, a protester in Yangon, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"We believe the police and the military are using the system to track demonstrations and protests. It's like a digital dictatorship - the regime is using technology to track and arrest citizens, and that's dangerous," he said.
Myanmar authorities could not be reached for comment.
Most of the equipment used in Safe City, a project to curb crime in big cities, is from Chinese technology firm Huawei, the Myanmar Now publication had reported.
Huawei did not respond to a request for comment.
Huawei told Human Rights Watch it was providing "standard ICT infrastructure equipment" - information and communications technology, and that the facial and licence-plate recognition technology on the cameras was not from Huawei.
There were many vendors, and Huawei "is not involved in any actual operation and data storage or processing," it said.
UIGHURS
Chinese tech firms have come under increased scrutiny for their use of tools to detect, track and monitor minority Uighurs in Xinjiang region, where activists and United Nations experts say at least a million Muslim Uighurs are detained in camps.
China denies abuses and says its camps provide vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.
"Authorities' ability to identify people on the streets, potentially track their movements and relationships, and intrude into private lives poses a grave risk to anti-coup activists," said Manny Maung, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.
"It can also be used to single out individuals in discriminatory or arbitrary ways, including for their ethnicity or religion," she said in a statement.
Young activists have created mobile mapping apps to warn protesters of the presence of police and military on the streets. The crowd-sourced maps also show the locations of water cannons, roadblocks and ambulances.
Chinese-made surveillance technologies deployed in locations from Britain to Vietnam have raised concerns about privacy and the potential for misuse and discrimination.
In Myanmar, sections of the law protecting the privacy and security of citizens have been suspended, and there are no legal guidelines for the collection, use and storage of personal data.
While no arrests can be linked to facial recognition technology due to a lack of transparency, some residents are covering up the cameras, said activist Debbie Stothard.
"There are very serious concerns about how the military junta is using digital technologies," said Stothard, founder of Alternative Asean Network on Burma.
"If they are not already using it to target protesters and others, it is inevitable - and imminent," she said.
Reuters
Fri Mar 19 2021
Hikvision and Dahua CCTV security surveillance cameras overlook a street as a man cycles past following the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Beijing, China. Filepic/REUTERS
Indonesia kecewakan China, raih kejuaraan badminton berpasukan campuran remaja dunia
Indonesia menewaskan China untuk muncul Juara Badminton Berpasukan Campuran Remaja Dunia dengan kemenangan 110-103 (mata terkumpul).
Bomba selamatkan tiga subkontrakor terkandas di kren pengangkat
Ketiga-tiga mangsa lelaki itu masing-masing berusia 24, 26 dan 32 tahun terkandas dengan anggaran ketinggian dua tingkat.
Hulu Perak daerah terbaharu dilanda banjir kilat
Banjir kilat berlaku disebabkan hujan lebat berterusan selama dua jam di sekitar Gerik.
Kejayaan pembangunan Sabah jadi kayu ukur pada PRN, PRU16 - Rafizi
Rafizi berkata kerjasama antara parti adalah perkara yang terus dibincangkan dalam kerangka semangat Kerajaan Perpaduan.
88 badan pensijilan halal luar negara dapat pengiktirafan JAKIM
Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) telah memberikan pengiktirafan kepada 88 badan pensijilan halal luar negara setakat Mei tahun ini.
eWarga Emas bentuk sistem penyampaian perkhidmatan berkesan, bersepadu - Noraini
Portal sistem warga emas (eWarga Emas) dibangunkan bagi membentuk sistem penyampaian perkhidmatan warga emas yang berkesan dan bersepadu.
MITRA lulus lebih RM95 juta untuk 11 program masyarakat India
Kesemua program yang dalam pelaksanaan itu memberi tumpuan kepada usaha memperkasakan sosioekonomi komuniti India dalam negara.
Kestabilan sosiopolitik Sabah bolehkan agihan ekonomi saksama - Juhar
Smber daya, kekayaan alam semula jadi dan potensi ekonomi dalam masyarakat dapat dibahagi dengan cara memberi peluang sama kepada rakyat.
Kenanga jangka OPR stabil 3.0 peratus pada 2025
Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd menjangka Kadar Dasar Semalaman (OPR) kekal stabil pada 3.0 peratus sepanjang 2025.
Johor sasar jumlah ternakan cecah 200,000 ekor pada 2027
Johor menyasarkan jumlah ternakan di negeri ini mencapai hingga 200,000 ekor pada 2027 setelah berjaya mencapai jumlah pengeluaran ternakan sebanyak 152,000 ekor hingga bulan lepas.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Myanmar agih beras ke kawasan terjejas banjir
Terdapat dua pelan pengedaran - pelan tujuh hari memberi manfaat kepada lebih 200,000 orang, pelan 14 hari membantu lebih 100,000 orang.
Tindak balas antarabangsa bantu mangsa Taufan Yagi di Myanmar diperlukan
Taufan Yagi melanda utara Myanmar pada 10 September, menyebabkan banjir teruk, tanah runtuh dan kemusnahan meluas di seluruh negara.
Mashitah fail saman terhadap NGO kaitkannya dengan pemerdagangan manusia di Myanmar
Dr Mashitah failkan saman terhadap sebuah NGO dan dua individu berhubung kenyataan mengaitkannya dengan jenayah pemerdagangan manusia di Myanmar.
Gajah Asia hadiah Myanmar mati di zoo Jepun akibat virus herpes
Seekor gajah Asia yang diberikan kepada Fukuoka oleh bandar Yangon di bawah program persahabatan telah mati di sebuah zoo di bandar Jepun itu selepas dijangkiti virus herpes.
Tiada bukti Dr Mashitah, suami terlibat sindiket pemerdagangan manusia - KPN
Tiada bukti mengaitkan Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim dan suami terlibat dengan kegiatan sindiket pemerdagangan manusia di Myanmar.
Pemerdagangan manusia: Polis rekod keterangan 11 individu termasuk Dr Mashitah, suami
Polis selesai merakam keterangan 11 individu termasuk bekas Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Mashitah Ibrahim dan suaminya berhubung sindiket pemerdagangan manusia di Myanmar.
Siasatan kes pemerdagangan manusia dikaitkan bekas menteri dilakukan dengan tertib, cermat
Menteri Dalam Negeri Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail berkata pihak polis juga akan memanggil beberapa lagi individu yang terlibat untuk melengkapkan kertas siasatan.
Dr Mashitah nafi terlibat sindiket pemerdagangan manusia
Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim menafikan penglibatannya dalam aktiviti sebuah kumpulan sindiket pemerdagangan manusia di Myanmar.
PBB desak henti keganasan di Myanmar sempena ulang tahun pengusiran Rohingya
Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) pada Jumaat menyeru agar keganasan di Myanmar dihentikan, lapor Agensi Anadolu (AA).