A dataset of photographs of people wearing masks developed by Chinese researchers drew criticism for its data collection practices and potential uses.

Researchers at Wuhan University collected photographs of 5,000 masked faces of 525 people, ostensibly to help train facial recognition systems that would identify individuals wearing face masks as a means of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.

The researchers said the images are of 'public figures' gathered 'from massive internet resources,' but refused to discuss how they chose the people added to the dataset or whether or not this may impact their privacy.

Critics argued that the photographs were collected without the consent of their owners or people appearing in them, raising privacy concerns. 

The dataset also prompted questions about potential uses of the dataset, not least in a Chinese context - including the monitoring of Uyghurs in Xinjiang province.