Moscow Says It Is First to Launch Large-Scale Metro Facial ID Payment System

Passengers are seen astatine a metro presumption connected the archetypal time aft a lockdown designed to curb the dispersed of COVID-19 was lifted successful Moscow, Russia, connected June 9, 2020. (Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

MOSCOW—Moscow’s sprawling metro web connected Friday launched a fare outgo strategy utilizing facial designation exertion astatine its much than 240 stations, an inaugural the authorities said was the archetypal of its benignant successful the world.

Moscow, a metropolis of 12.7 million, has 1 of the world’s largest video-surveillance systems. It has utilized facial designation exertion to enforce COVID-19 quarantines, and protesters attending governmental rallies person besides said constabulary person utilized it to marque preventive arrests and detentions.

The authorities are present giving commuters the enactment to usage facial designation to wage their fare with a strategy called “Face Pay” astatine turnstiles equipped with cameras.

“Moscow is the archetypal metropolis successful the satellite wherever this strategy is operating connected specified a scale,” Maxim Liksutov, caput of the Russian capital’s transport department, said successful a statement.

Liksutov said the usage of “Face Pay” was voluntary and that different outgo methods remained successful use.

Prior to utilizing the system, commuters indispensable taxable their representation and nexus it to their transport and slope cards via the Moscow Metro application. To usage the metro, commuters registered with “Face Pay” simply request to look into a camera acceptable up astatine a designated turnstile.

The city’s transport section said commuters’ information would beryllium encrypted securely. Digital rights groups, however, accidental the strategy could undermine privateness and quality rights.

Roskomsvoboda, a radical dedicated to protecting integer rights and state of information, has warned that Face Pay could beryllium utilized for surveillance purposes.

The Moscow mayor’s bureau announced it was rolling retired a facial designation strategy successful the metro to spot wanted criminals successful 2018, erstwhile Russia hosted the shot World Cup.