Tech Security
FILE IMAGE: People visit the mainly empty Universal Studios Singapore, as tourist takes a decrease following the coronavirus break out, in Sentosa March 4,2020 REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Visitors to Universal Studios in Singapore will now have to go through facial acknowledgment scanners to go into the park, in the city-state’s most current venture with a technology that has stired privacy issues.
Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), which owns the vast area of traveler destinations, hotels and restaurants in which the park sits, said the scheme which started this month would help smooth access for guests.
” Facial acknowledgment supplies contactless verification of tickets and ticket holders, allowing our consumers to enjoy our park experience in a more efficient and smooth manner,” RWS said in an emailed statement.
Usage of facial acknowledgment innovation – which allows companies or authorities to match individuals detected cameras with those on databases – has risen globally recently, stirring stress over monitoring and how data gathered will be used.
Digitally-connected Singapore has actually started numerous projects that use the technology, including an ambitious scheme to put electronic cameras on lamp-posts linked to facial acknowledgment software application.
Annual and season ticket holders of Singapore’s Universal Studios no longer need physical passes, while visitors using day passes will still need tickets for entry however can then exit and return to simply using their facial image.
Facial recognition is an “essential” part of admission and is used for “functional enhancement, security and security”, according to RWS, which last month axed personnel as the COVID-19 pandemic batters Singapore’s tourism market.
RWS stated it had implemented rigid security measures to secure guest details such as saving it on encrypted servers. It declined remark on which business was offering the facial acknowledgment technology.
China’s Universal Studios amusement park due to open in Beijing next year likewise plans to utilize facial recognition innovation, according to media reports.
Reporting by John Geddie and Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Ed Davies
