Petersburg video cameras taught to recognize ethnicity

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According to the authorities, with their help you can track the “clusters of migrants”, but it’s too early to talk about specific results - they are waiting for statistics by the end of the year.

Photo: canva

A 50% street cameras in St. Petersburg are already equipped with an ethnicity recognition system, Rotonda Telegram channel said with reference to the deputy head of the Informatization Committee Igor Nikonov. About 50 thousand cameras learned to determine ethnicity.

According to Nikonov, cameras are used to track the "accumulations" of migrants in the northern capital. In particular, with the help of a new function, the police calculates the "rubber" apartments.

At the same time, cameras cannot determine the specific nationality of a person. According to Roman Borisenko, the head of the City Monitoring Center, they distinguish between representatives of the Caucasian, East Asian and Central Asian regions, as well as Europeans and Asians. In addition, separately the cameras determine the Africans.

The definition of nationalities with the help of cameras was actively discussed in February 2025. The function was announced at a government meeting - then it was about 8 thousand cameras. As the media wrote, the purchase of a license for a program that can recognize an ethnic group by persons has cost a budget of 38.4 million rubles.

The initiative caused a wave of indignation. For example, the head of the HRC Valery Fadeev called the idea of ​​officials "humiliating human dignity."

Recall, according to studies, persons recognize persons have many risks, including a high level of errors and racial bias. Algorithms are more often mistaken in the identification of dark -skinned, Asians and women, which can lead to unreasonable detentions and discrimination. Roskomsvoboda has repeatedly emphasized that in the absence of transparent regulation, such technologies turn into a tool of mass and indistinct surveillance, which pose a threat to the rights and freedoms of citizens. Public control is necessary when using persons recognition systems.