(ETH) – Dubai is reportedly introducing a facial recognition system on its public transport to beef up security, according to officials as the emirate prepares to host the global Expo exhibition.
According to the report, “This technology has proven its effectiveness to identify suspicious and wanted people,” said Obaid al-Hathboor, director of Dubai’s Transport Security Department. This type of technology isn’t anything new to Dubai as the emirate already has a biometric system that uses facial recognition at its international airport.
Dubai also sees itself as a “smart city” in the Middle East, has ambitions to become a hub for technology and artificial intelligence. “We aspire to raise our performance by building on our current capabilities, to ensure a high level of security in metro stations and other transport sectors,” said Hathboor.
Under the watch of Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the city’s police recently used facial recognition in a simulated scenario to identify gunmen launching an attack on a metro station. Jamal Rashed, of Dubai Police’s Transport Security Department, also stated that the facial recognition technology is scheduled to be rolled out in the coming months in all metro stations.
This will follow other things being used as well such as helmets with thermal cameras and smart glasses, that will also be used to identify and manage large crowds. “It took at least five hours to identify a suspect before,” said Rashed. “With this technology, it takes less than a minute.” But while the technology to identify individuals has simplified lives, such as being used for unlocking phones, it has also raised concerns over privacy.
