Facial Scanning Now Being Used to Curb Public Rental Housing Fraud in Shanghai

First it was restrooms in Beijing, now it’s public housing in Shanghai. The city government announced its plan to use facial recognition software to curb public rental housing fraud in the city.

With real estate prices ever on the rise, the government has recently begun to provide public housing for the city’s low income citizens. But some participants in the public housing program are using this as a business opportunity, illegally subleasing government-funded apartments.

To curb this activity, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Construction and Urban-Rural Development plans to apply new, comprehensive user access methods to all public housing by 2020.

The methods, which include facial scanning to get in the front door, began piloting at Renwen Apartments in Pudong. In heavy rain or dim lighting, residents also have the option to scan their fingerprints for entry.

Since the introduction of facial and fingerprint scanning, Renwen Apartments has seen no subletting or other rental fraud. 

[Image via Extreme Tech]