In China, you can use your face to buy food, thanks to facial recognition, QR codes, and WeChat Pay. But is the convenience worth the loss in privacy? We went to Shenzhen to explore this technological development and understand how close China is to becoming a cashless society.

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Written by: Dolly Li
Produced by: Dolly Li and Timmy Shen
Shot and edited by: Mario Chui
Animator: Ray Ngan
Mastered by: Joel Roche

Music: Audio Network


Resources:
Baidu and KFC’s facial recognition commercial:    • Baidu + KFC Facial Recognition Techno...  
Why China’s payment apps give U.S. bankers nightmares, Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/20...
China testing facial-recognition surveillance system in Xinjiang – report, The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/201...
China’s facial recognition cameras apprehend third fugitive Jacky Cheung concertgoer in two months, South China Morning Post:
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/socie...

This video mentions Alipay and Alibaba. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post, which incubates Goldthread.