China bets on facial recognition in big drive for total surveillance

For 40-year-old Mao Ya, the facial recognition camera that allows access to her apartment house is simply a useful convenience. "If I am carrying shopping bags in both hands, I just have to look ahead and the door swings open," she said. "And my 5-year-old daughter can just look up at the camera and get in. It's good for kids because they often lose their keys." But for the police, the cameras that replaced the residents' old entry cards serve quite a different purpose.