Japan Quick Tech Update
Japan has decided this month to dilute and release more than one million tonnes of contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, but also to finally decommission the plant’s four reactors.
The Japanese government has also pushed messaging app Line to step up its data protection efforts after various last month showing Chinese engineers could access Japanese users’ data without informing them.
In other news, the Digital Market Competition Council unveiled new plans to regulate online advertising to try and set new limits for tech giants, and Japan's central bank kicked off various experiments on issuing digital currency.
Finally, Narita and Haneda airports announced they will introduce facial recognition to enable passenger boarding for international flights.
This issue of TÉKUNI is about facial recognition in Japan, how the technology works, and the potential implication of deploying it in public places such as airports.
👨💻 TÉKUNI Exclusive - Nauman Mustafa
Mustafa started his career as an engineer after graduating from the National University of Sciences & Technology in Pakistan with a degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering.
“During my studies, I have worked on multiple projects that use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in some capacity. I also visited Germany for a three-month internship for a project funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).”
After graduation, Mustafa worked for VisionX - one of the top high-tech startups in Pakistan - for two years as a Machine Learning Engineer. Then he decided to work abroad to gain more experience in an international environment.
“Thus, I joined Autify as a Sr. Machine Learning Engineer. So currently, I have around three years of industry experience practising Machine Learning.”
Nauman is currently not living in Japan due to the pandemic, but is hoping to move there once the borders re-open for foreigners. When asked when he first got interested in ML, the engineer said the work of Professor Dr Faisal Shafait greatly inspired him.
“But what sparked my interest was the legendary research published by NVIDIA, like the original StyleGAN paper, which can generate high-quality faces from nothing. “
Talking about the work he does at Autify, Nauman says he mainly focuses on building traditional AI-based systems.
“I have written a blog post on the Autify Engineering Blog describing some of the projects in technical detail. There is also a Japanese version available for the Japanese audience.”
Talking about Narita and Haneda airports introducing FaceExpress’ facial recognition technology by NEC to allow boarding instead of tickets and passports, Nauman says that contact-free solutions have become crucial due to the pandemic.
“Given the promise of FaceExpress technology [to help passenger avoid contact of potentially contaminated surfaces], it could potentially revolutionise air travel. Other companies and governments may follow suit and implement similar technologies across the world.”
However, Nauman warns, current AI models can quickly become biased if their underlying data contains bias.
“Issues with minorities can occur if FaceExpress turns out to be somehow discriminatory. Imagine some people not being able to board a plane because they belong to a particular ethnic group. It may not be an issue right now because the technology is optional. But if this problem is not solved, it could become a significant problem, especially in our times.”
More broadly, however, what worries Nauman the most are the privacy implications behind facial recognition technologies.
“How government stores our data and how they process that data would be the most important thing to many privacy advocates.”
As far as private sector applications are concerned, Nauman firstly mentions mobile authentication.
“Authentication is one part of the many possible applications of facial technology, and I feel like this technology has a lot of potentials. I have personally used face unlock for a while.”
According to the engineer, however, there are still challenges to tackle before the widespread adaption of this technology, both in the private and public sectors.
“For example, many advertising companies may take advantage of facial emotion recognition to exploit people in different emotional states. Built-in discrimination aside, companies may even estimate your ethnicity and discriminate against you or sell you stuff based on that data. Finally, data breaches of such data types can have much more harm than any other type of breach.”
Japan is generally quite strict when it comes to privacy regulations. The country has only recently started using facial recognition systems for criminal probes, and shortly after released new regulations to safeguard citizens’ privacy.
However, the adoption of facial recognition technologies is on the rise all over the world, and not just in relation to travelling or use by law enforcement.
“In my opinion, any technology which makes life a bit easier will eventually become mainstream,” Nauman says. “Given that facial recognition tech makes many things as easy as scanning your face, I believe it will become more and more widespread in Japan.”
Nauman concludes his interview by mentioning the dangers of facial recognition applications for mass surveillance.
“China is one country that implements facial recognition technology on a massive scale. People need to learn from it.”
The engineer says that the power that citizens give to governments when such technologies are implemented at a national scale is too dangerous.
“One of the key ways to tackle potential future problems is public awareness. More and more people should know the cost of convenience for the deployment of this type of technologies.”
If proper awareness campaigns are successfully conducted, Nauman concludes, the inevitable impact of mass surveillance systems may be countered, or at least mitigated.
“When the time comes, people may make the right decision.”
❓ Want to find out more about the latest tech news in Japan?
🔗 Here is the newsletter’s link section:
Turning Experience into Disaster Tech - NHK
All of Tokyo is now available as a free 3-D scale model - Sora News 24
Japan Airlines to retire planes with Pratt & Whitney engines - Reuters
Japan demonstrate world's 1st fuel cell EV mobile clinic - Japan Today
Toyota unveils advanced driver-assist technology models - Reuters
Japanese university presents robotic COVID PCR testing - RT
School opens in Sendai to train drone operators - NHK
1st commercial hydrogen power plant to open near Mount Fuji - Nikkei
Japan to regulate digital ads under law on IT giants - Kyodo
Cosmic rays causing 30,000 network malfunctions each year - Kyodo
Line data policy rings security alarm in Japan - NHK
Chip shortage forces Subaru factory stoppage - NHK
Japan decides to release Fukushima plant water into sea - Kyodo
Chinese engineer to be prosecuted over JAXA cyberattacks - Kyodo
Municipalities struggling to reach zero emissions - The Asahi Shimbun
Gov't warns Line over insufficient data protection - Kyodo
3 nuclear units to become 1st to operate beyond 40-yr limit - Kyodo
Japan ‘lost’ 20 years of vaccine research - The Asahi Shimbun
The Planets Tokyo monolith is changing into a pillar of fire - TimeOut
Space start-up to create man-made meteor shower by 2023 - SCMP
Saitama has banned people from walking on escalators - TimeOut
High school students make life-sized DeLorean replica - Sora News 24
X-ray IDs medicine bottle from feudal era - The Asahi Shimbun
Airlines to offer scenic flights instead of international ones - TimeOut
Temple in Kyoto sets up committee to open branch in space - Kyodo
teamLab holds exhibition inside a soy sauce warehouse - TimeOut
VR attraction enables bungee jumping off Tokyo Tower - Sora News 24
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