This paper first introduces China's legal framework regulating facial recognition technology (FRT) and analyzes the underlying problems. Although current laws and regulations have restricted the development of FRT under some circumstances, these restrictions may function poorly when the technology is installed by the government or when it is deployed for the purpose of protecting public security. We use two cases to illustrate this asymmetric regulatory model, which can be traced to systematic preferences that existed prior to recent legislative efforts advancing personal data protection. Based on these case studies and evaluation of relevant regulations, this paper explains why China has developed this distinctive asymmetric regulatory model towards FRT specifically and personally data generally.

翻译：本文首先介绍了中国监管面部识别技术（FRT）的法律框架，并分析了其潜在问题。尽管现行法律法规在某些情况下限制了FRT的发展，但当该技术由政府部署或用于维护公共安全目的时，这些限制措施可能难以有效发挥作用。我们通过两个案例阐释这种非对称监管模式，其根源可追溯至近期推进个人数据保护立法前已存在的系统性偏好。基于案例研究及相关法规评估，本文阐释了中国为何针对FRT乃至广义个人数据形成了这种独特的非对称监管模式。