Iranian women are exposing their heads in protest of government controls, and a top official has stated that algorithms can detect anyone who violates dress codes.
After Iranian lawmakers proposed using face recognition to enforce hijab law last year, the head of an Iranian government agency that enforces morality law stated that the technology would be used “to identify inappropriate and unusual movements,” including “failure to observe hijab laws.” Individuals could be identified by matching their faces to a national identity database in order to levy fines and make arrests, according to him.
In September, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman died after being taken into custody by Iran’s morality police for not wearing a hijab tightly enough. Hijab-wearing became compulsory in 1979 when Iran became a theocracy. Women deemed violators of the law can lose access to banks, public transportation, and other essential government services. Repeat offenders can spend years in jail or in forced morality schooling. Iran’s national identity database, built in 2015, includes biometric data like face scans.
Some face recognition in use in Iran comes from the Chinese company Tandy. Tandy is one of the largest security camera manufacturers in the world, but its sales are largely within China. Iranian traffic officials started using it in 2020 to issue fines and send women warnings by SMS text about wearing a hijab. Face recognition is used in 61 countries, more than any other form of digital surveillance technology. Author Steven Feldstein argues that authoritarian countries have largely managed to counteract the momentum of internet-enabled protest movements. In the past month, both China and Iran have witnessed some of the largest protests either nation has seen in decades.
