Henan detects and tracks foreign journalists, students, migrant women

The government of Henan province, China, was reported to be setting up - or to have set up - a facial recognition system to detect and track 'people of concern', including foreign journalists, students and migrant women. 

The system uses facial recognition technology supplied by local company Neusoft, and is connected to over 3,000 CCTV cameras across the province and to a number of national and regional database, as well as to China's national database. 

According to the Henan government's 200-page tender document, shared by video research organisation IPVM, the surveillance system uses a traffic light system to categorise targets by those considered to be of 'key concern', 'general concern' and 'not harmful'.

Foreign students will also be assessed and divided into three categories of risk. The safety assessment is made by focusing on the daily attendance of foreign students, exam results, whether they come from key countries, and school-discipline compliance.

The finding raised concerns about Chinese government surveillance and loss of privacy.