Hong Kong Police Force plans to introduce facial recognition to its Smart View CCTV network during November, to help search for criminal suspects and locate missing people, including those considered at high risk.
Police say the feature can search camera footage for a person using their facial features and alert officers if that person is detected. It is intended for active searches, rather than continuous use across all cameras.
Police say more than 10,000 cameras have been installed and set a target of 60,000 by 2028. RTHK reports that Smart View is also connected to a further 10,000 cameras run by government departments and public organisations.
Police say CCTV footage will be kept for no more than 31 days, while photos captured for facial recognition and related data will be retained for 180 days. That data can include the location and time a person appeared on camera, as well as facial characteristics.
Police say a request to use Smart View, including facial recognition, must be approved by an officer at inspector rank or above. The review covers the purpose, number and scope of cameras and the duration of access, with subsequent checks to ensure officers stayed within the approved purpose.
In a pilot search, police said an older man with dementia was found about an hour and a half after he was reported missing; the facial-recognition search itself took less than 20 minutes.
At least four shopping centres have agreed to connect their CCTV feeds to Smart View: Olympian City, Tuen Mun Town Plaza, Kwai Chung Shopping Centre and Sierra Life in Fanling.
The Department of Justice advised that centres should be free to choose whether to disclose their Smart View connection. Signs warning that CCTV recording is taking place are legally required; police said they would encourage centres to announce the network connection too.