The development of a facial recognition system that enables the identification of individuals wearing masks drew concerns about the loss of privacy and potential use for surveillance. 

Chinese technology company Hanwang Technology (also known as Hanvon) developed facial recognition software that can identify people wearing face masks. The innovation came in response to the widespread use of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Drawing on a database of 6 million unmasked faces and a smaller set of masked faces, the company's FaceGo system was reportedly able to identify masked individuals with about 95 percent accuracy, compared to 99.5 percent for unmasked faces. 

FaceGo is marketed as useful for for security access control, surveillance, and can be integrated with temperature sensors for fever detection, and has been used by China's Ministry of Public Security, police forces, and approximately 200 clients in Beijing.

While Hanvon's technology addresses a practical need during the pandemic, it raised concerns about privacy loss and intensified surveillance, impacting rights to freedom of expression and assembly. And while Hanvon's system was not directly implicated, facial recognition technologies have generally faced criticism for potential racial bias in identification accuracy.