Would you pay with your palm?

China Report is MIT Technology Review’s newsletter astir exertion developments successful China. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Tuesday.

Hey! Welcome backmost to China Report.

If you hap to beryllium successful Cambridge, MA, this week, travel conscionable maine astatine EmTech, MIT Technology Review’s large yearly event. I’m going to big a fewer panels and fireside chats focusing connected planetary exertion challenges, including US-China tensions, crypto regulation, and societal media misinformation. You tin besides conscionable popular by and accidental hi.

As I prep for the event, I besides privation to stock a preview of a fascinating communicative I’m moving on.

On October 14, a Chinese tech work first reported that Tencent had softly launched a diagnostic successful WeChat that allows users to wage by verifying their thenar prints. It rapidly made headlines successful China, where 800 cardinal individuals and 10 cardinal vendors already usage Tencent’s WeChat Pay, and citizens person mostly grown skeptical astir whether trading their biometric information for convenience is really beneficial (and safe). Many Chinese publications followed up with their ain reporting. 

However, determination was lone peripheral grounds to amusement Tencent has successful information been processing outgo exertion based connected palm-print recognition. Apart from a fewer low-resolution photos, reporters could lone truly corroborate the communicative by uncovering that Tencent has been registering trademarks similar “微信刷掌 (WeChat thenar scan)” oregon “WePalm,” and applying for applicable patents successful the past year. One patent for “scanning and paying equipment,” approved backmost successful December, includes cameras that tin admit “at slightest 2 types of identifying accusation including QR codes, palm-print information, and thenar vein information.” 

So, it definite looks arsenic if Tencent is mounting the signifier for introducing a large caller technology. But erstwhile akin reports astir Tencent’s palm-print designation experimentation got retired successful 2021, the institution responded that it was lone an interior probe task and determination was nary program to use it successful existent life. And, aft all, large tech companies preemptively registry trademarks and patents each the time. (Apple has besides been granted palm-print designation patents before, but it does not person related consumer-facing products.) So however bash we cognize Tencent is superior this time?

Open-source intelligence! 

In different words, I turned to Chinese societal media platforms—particularly video services similar Douyin and WeChat Channels—because I suspected that if Tencent had truly been investigating the exertion successful stores, possibly immoderate users would person seen and recorded it.

In assorted posts, I recovered a fistful of videos proving that palm-print outgo devices for Tencent’s WeChat Pay strategy person been tested successful cafes, bakeries, and supermarkets since astatine slightest July. The videos travel from users successful Shenzhen, the metropolis wherever the institution is headquartered, and Guangzhou, different megacity 65 miles away. In astir cases, WeChat seems to connection a tiny discount, often beneath 10 RMB ($1.37), for customers to effort retired the caller feature, taxable their palm-print data, and usage it to wage astatine the cashier. 

In 1 precocious September video that I recovered peculiarly insightful, a idiosyncratic who appears to beryllium a WeChat worker tin beryllium heard instructing radical to enactment their hands successful beforehand of a designation instrumentality and grounds their thenar prints. “New diagnostic of WeChat Pay. Everyone is invited to effort our work and enactment us,” the dependable says. In return, the users who scan their palms tin get a soda for the terms of 1 cent.

The idiosyncratic who aboriginal uploaded the video asks erstwhile this diagnostic was released, and the dependable replies that it started fractional a twelvemonth agone but lone precocious came to Guangzhou. 

The outgo devices successful these videos are iPad-size achromatic boxes with 1 surface showing instructions and a camera capturing the thenar data. It’s unclear whether they are meant lone for investigating the functionality of palm-print designation exertion oregon for collecting much information to assistance fine-tune it (or both). None of the applicable videos bespeak that customers are being told however their information volition beryllium used. I asked Tencent for a remark but I haven’t heard back.  

No substance their nonstop use, the devices are apt inactive successful the proceedings phase, arsenic they are often shown alongside a enactment saying “Trial determination for WeChat palm-print scan payment” oregon “Internal testing. Please don’t archer outer people.” In 1 photograph posted online, a written informing states that photography of the instrumentality is prohibited. 

(Lol, this intelligibly didn’t halt radical from taking photos. And videos. And uploading them to the internet.)

This reporting acquisition reaffirms an thought I’ve had for a agelong time: It’s hard to cognize what’s happening successful China from the outside, some due to the fact that of the almighty censorship instrumentality and due to the fact that of the borderline policies that marque visiting China difficult. Yet Chinese video platforms similar Douyin and Kuaishou—which are replacing accepted sites similar Weibo to go the place wherever radical explicit themselves and papers their lives—can supply much penetration than ever. Since the contented of videos is little search-friendly than texts, they are harder to benignant through, but they besides often battalion much accusation into conscionable a fewer seconds. 

Obviously, there’s overmuch much to the communicative of palm-print designation than this preview. Why is the exertion having a infinitesimal now, aft facial designation has thrived for years? How has the pandemic, which made look masks widespread, changed its people of development? How could the expanding consciousness of information privateness assistance oregon wounded the imaginable of palm-print recognition? There are galore much absorbing discussions to beryllium had astir the technological and ethical aspects of the technology, and I’ll code them successful the afloat communicative that we’ll people soon. I’ll beryllium definite to nexus successful the adjacent newsletter.

Until then! I’ll spot you again adjacent week (or possibly successful idiosyncratic this week!).

Have you ever recovered thing astonishing connected Douyin oregon akin platforms? I’d emotion to perceive your story. Write to maine astatine zeyi@technologyreview.com.

Catch up with China

1. China’s “internal reference” system, which allows authorities media journalists to constitute classified, delicate reports to the enactment without being censored, is progressively muting captious accusation arsenic Xi Jinping consolidates his power. (Associated Press) 

2. Shein, the Chinese fast-fashion buying site, is connected way to make $24 cardinal successful gross this year, meaning it could soon surpass its rivals H&M and Zara, which made $18.1 cardinal and $27.6 billion, respectively, successful 2021. (Wall Street Journal $)

• Temu, different Chinese e-commerce app, is hoping to replicate Shein’s success. But it won’t beryllium easy. (MIT Technology Review) 

3. The largest Foxconn mill successful China, with implicit 200,000 workers, is nether covid lockdown, and immoderate workers are fleeing to neighboring cities connected foot. (Reuters $)

• Meanwhile, covid protocols abruptly unopen down the Disney parkland successful Shanghai connected Monday, trapping immoderate visitors wrong until they tin get a antagonistic PCR result. (Gizmodo)

4. A Wall Street Journal study revealed the wrong communicative of a captive swap involving a Huawei enforcement and 2 Canadian citizens, positive the three-year hostage diplomacy betwixt the United States, China, and Canada that made it happen. (Wall Street Journal $)

5. To fast-track their vocation growth, Latin American tech workers are jumping betwixt Chinese tech companies that are anxious to wage a hefty magnitude for localized experience. (Rest of World)

6. After banners protesting zero-covid policies and authoritarianism appeared successful Beijing, their messages are being repeated by young Chinese radical astir the world—online and connected assemblage campuses. (New York Times $)

• But discussions of the protestation person been heavy censored connected Chinese societal media, peculiarly WeChat, wherever radical could beryllium permanently banned simply for sharing a photograph of it. (MIT Technology Review)

7. Newlyweds successful China are receiving telephone calls from the section governments, encouraging them to person babies. (Reuters $)

Lost successful translation

As state prices support pushing higher successful China, a slew of caller businesses that merchantability state presumption coupons person been embraced by car owners, the National Business Daily reports. With these apps, owners tin pre-purchase state astatine a discount and usage their quota astatine designated state stations successful the coming weeks. The concern exemplary is truthful fashionable that determination are already astir 30 competitors successful the field, and immoderate person raised tens of millions of dollars from investors. 

But however bash they marque money? The apps wage the state stations astatine slightest a period aft users marque their purchases. And successful that time, they lend retired the excavation of wealth successful high-interest loans. So they are really fiscal platforms successful the guise of coupon apps, which makes them susceptible to fiscal marketplace volatility. 

One much thing

China’s astir fashionable rapper lately is Zhang Tiegang, a down-to-earth pistillate from the agrarian northeast. In videos of her performing fashionable English rap songs, Zhang deed each the close travel and pronunciation with a poker face, old-fashioned clothes, and a backdrop of Chinese countryside life. The wide opposition betwixt Zhang and the cognition of a emblematic rapper made her viral connected Douyin. She’s “a tractor connected the outside, a Ferrari connected the inside,” says 1 remark nether her video.