Russia’s surveillance state still doesn’t match China. But Putin is racing to catch up.
China leads the world in rolling out a vast network of facial recognition technology, including a system to track and repress its Uyghur minority. But Putin’s Russia is racing to catch up.
Russian authorities are ramping up the use of facial recognition technology to track opposition protesters to their homes and arrest them — a powerful new Kremlin tool to crush opposition.
And the system is so leaky that surveillance data on individuals can be bought for a small sum on Russia’s notorious black market in data, along with all kinds of other personal information. There is even a name for the clandestine cyber bazaar: probiv.
Full article: Russia is growing its surveillance state but not everyone is monitored equally – The Washington Post
