South Korea immigration shares travellers' facial data without consent

What happened

The government provided facial images, along with information on age, gender and nationality, to private companies to train biometric algorithms for an AI-powered identification and tracking system. 

The data was collected from both Korean citizens and foreign nationals passing through Incheon International Airport using 88 cameras, 50 of which were capable of facial biometrics.

Why it happened

The project aimed to develop a system for screening and identifying travelers entering or leaving the country, with the government attempting to justify its actions by claiming that since the images were initially collected for traveler identification, they could be processed by third parties for developing an AI system with the same purpose.