Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Chinese Citizens Express Concern Over the Abuse of Facial Recognition Technology Joyce Huang Starting this month, China has made it mandatory that new mobile phone users will have to have their faces scanned before completing their real-name registration with telecom operators. But the latest policy has worried many netizens and rights defenders, some of whom complained that China is moving one step closer to tighten its cyberspace controls and bring to life the world British writer George Orwell imagined in his book 1984. Observers say, until legal regulations and safeguards are in place to protect consumers' rights to privacy, the aggressive move will no doubt lead to the Communist state's abuse as a political tool to track dissidents or privacy risks as a result of consumers' biometric data being leaked or re-sold. .