Photo/Illutration A sign at a JR East station says a security system based on facial recognition technology is in operation. (Provided by East Japan Railway Co.)

The word “stigma,” which is derived from ancient Greek for a brand or tattoo that marked slaves and criminals, evolved to imply an invisible symbol of disgrace or dishonor.

The original meaning has the potential to return with advanced facial recognition technology.

East Japan Railway Co. installed cameras at its stations to photograph faces of passengers as a means to identify certain former convicts and parolees.

JR East suspended the system immediately after The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper ran a story about it in late September.

The railway operator explained the system “had yet to gain society’s consensus.” One wonders if the company would have continued operating the surveillance had it not attracted media attention.

The system was designed to detect not only suspects on police wanted lists but also individuals who had served time in prison for felonies committed at JR East facilities.

An argument may be made that this is all fine when public safety is at stake.

But former convicts are private citizens once they have completed their sentences and returned to society.

There is no justification whatsoever for a third party to treat them as a security risk by arbitrarily drawing on past information.

Bending this principle is tantamount to destroying the roots of human rights and personal privacy.

The present situation in China is a case in point.

According to The Asahi Shimbun’s digital edition, the extensive Sky Net surveillance network is capable of identifying 2 billion individuals in the country within seconds.

With an estimated 200 million or so security cameras installed throughout China, every citizen is being watched. It is the price the population pays in exchange for the maintenance of law and order.

Facial recognition technology is already in wide use, for instance, for starting smartphones.

Without society’s firm resolve to fight abuse, digital technology and surveillance can go together all too readily.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 2

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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