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China Biometrics

China Biometrics
Willis Sparks
By Willis SparksDecember 15, 2017
Willis Sparks
Willis Sparks is a senior editor for GZERO Daily. He is also a Director in the Global Macro practice at Eurasia Group, where he has worked since 2005. He has made speeches on international politics on every continent except Antarctica. Willis holds degrees from Brown University, the Juilliard School, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He also holds an honorary degree from the Moscow Art Theatre School. A native of Macon, Georgia, Willis has worked as a stuntman at New York's Metropolitan Opera. As a child, he declined an opportunity to spend an afternoon riding the Great American Scream Machine, a rollercoaster, with Ronald McDonald, for money. He has never regretted that decision.
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Human Rights Watch published a report this week that accuses the Chinese government of secretly creating a database that catalogs iris scans and blood types of everyone aged 12–65 in Xinjiang province, home to more than 10 million Muslims, mainly ethnic Uighurs. Information is reportedly collected via government-provided medical checkups. It’s not clear how many people know their identities are being recorded in this way or whether participation is strictly voluntary.

This is not just a story about China and its Muslim minority. Biometric identification will become a bigger part of all our lives in coming years. There are many ways in which biometric ID can improve and protect our lives, but this story reminds us that today’s tools can be used for new purposes tomorrow. In some cases, as in Xinjiang, their use is already cause for concern.

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