Facial recognition technology

This article from The Guardian looks at the use of facial recognition technology use in China.

Although many mobile phone manufacturers have implemented such technology into their hardware, people registering new SIM cards in China must now submit to a facial recognition scan.

The government argues that this process will "protect the rights and interests of citizens in cyberspace", therefore making mobile phones and their users easier to track. However, the policy has been criticised by some human rights groups as another step towards a "dystopian surveillance state".

This article could be used within a number of areas in sociology, including: Crime and Deviance (state crime, crime control, surveillance, prevention and punishment), The Media (new media, globalisation) and Theory and Methods (post-modernity, postmodernism.