Dmitry Morozov, founder of the technology development company 3DiVi, on the air of the RTVI program “Chronicles of the New World” explain how facial recognition systems work at border checkpoints and how likely are such technical solutions to be implemented across the entire Russian border. He also spoke about the work of the Unified Biometric Data System (UBS), cooperation with foreign companies and the shortage of IT specialists. 3DiVi Company based in 2011 in Chelyabinsk. She specializes in the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies for computer vision. The company creates industry-specific person recognition solutions for smart city projects, Internet of Things, biometrics, security, retail, robotics, healthcare, and more.
On plans to participate in a tender for the installation of facial recognition systems at Russian border checkpoints
Yes we are. Of course, it’s a great competition. It is clear that there will be a main contractor, but there are such plans.
Such systems are implemented in many countries. All States strive to make the process of crossing the border as simple as possible for people who actually have visas and the right to cross the border. And accordingly, limit border crossings to those who, for whatever reason, are undesirable for certain countries.
Which is to say, it’s such a common trend: I’ve heard of ‘pilots’ in the UK and some EU countries. In this process, Russia may not even be the leader, but we are going in the same direction, I think. It will just speed up the workflow a bit, but this system won’t fundamentally change anything.
The fact that authorities plan to equip Russian border car checkpoints with facial recognition systems became known in early February. The client of the corresponding tender was the “Directorate for the construction and operation of Russian border facilities” of the FGKU. For these purposes, the department allocates 830 million rubles. According to data from the public procurement portal, it is necessary to provide equipment before November 25, 2023.
On the introduction of a facial recognition system under sanctions
Such systems, as a rule, are always implemented within the state, and then they begin to be integrated already at the interstate level. Before the second stage, under conditions of sanctions, it is undoubtedly premature to say it, but so that the system functions at the local, state level, then why not.
The equipment is not the most difficult. Organizational issues, how to deploy such a system, make it safe and at the same time convenient to use – this is the main problem. Because there are a lot of legislative restrictions – all this overlaps like a snowball, and in the end it turns out that such a system cannot be made.
About facial recognition systems across the state border
In fact, here again, the Americans are leading the way. And we know these guys. They are the former founders of Oculus. Palmer Lucky, his latest project is the company Anduril, which specializes in detecting people who cross the border at night or try to bypass the official crossing point somewhere. It is a very famous company, it thundered in the news. Last round [инвестиций] was a crazy estimate of a billion.
That is to say, the Americans kind of started with virtual reality, with toys, and now they are moving towards border protection, because the complex system detects not only a person, but everything that move or fly. We are still far from it: this subject is interesting, but I have not yet seen such ambitious projects in Russia.
How writing CNBC, Palmer Lucky is the founder of virtual reality headset company Oculus, which was acquired in 2014 by Facebook (owned by Meta*). In 2017, Lucky retired from the computer giant, after which he founded Anduril, one of the main projects of which was the “digital wall” – a system of observation towers with cameras and artificial intelligence sensors to follow the movements. In September 2019, investors valued Anduril at $1 billion, according to CNBC.
On whether Russia will use EBS for facial recognition
Recognition technologies and an undesirable person database operate independently of EBS. I think it is clear that there is a risk of the database being “searched” using a unique biometric system. In other words, privacy will be violated.
But a single biometric system has enough problems without it, because it has a voice and a face as biometric factors. The face is a weak biometric factor, respectively, there is not even a guarantee that it will distinguish the twin brother. There are many errors and this is not a panacea.
The iris allows you to uniquely identify a person, and it is a more private biometric factor that cannot be scanned by an outside CCTV system. As a result, we see that the biometric system has room to grow. This may be the first pancake ever made.
The Unified Biometric System is a platform created by Rostelecom in collaboration with the Central Bank of Russia in the summer of 2018. EBS helps identify citizens by their biometric characteristics, including facial image and voice. As designed by the creators, the platform is designed to make it easier for users to receive services from different banks. At the end of 2021, she was converted to the state information system. In Rostelecom, this was explained by the fact that the status of “state”, firstly, would increase the number of services and increase the availability of services for citizens, and, secondly, would mean “a guarantee of the security of personal data at the state level. »
Why the State has a monopoly on citizens’ biometric data
We look at this table from a slightly different point of view, because a single biometric system in itself poses many problems, including legislative ones. Now regulations have been passed on this, which significantly complicates the work with EBS for commercial organizations.
When [промышленная] revolution, and people moved from horses to cars, there were also a lot of legislative restrictions: a person with a red flag had to walk in front of each car, wave it and warn everyone in the neighborhood that a car was coming. Now we’re kind of in the same situation – there’s biometrics, let’s ban everything, impose all kinds of requirements. But I think it will really take off when this system works, [будучи] not related to the state.
Maybe, [это будет] something similar to the US decentralized approach, where I can give specific consent from a private person to a company to use my biometric data and revoke that consent at any time. Here, in fact, there is no need to put some kind of state system in the middle and write certain laws separately, to impose a bunch of accreditation requirements on all participants in this transaction. Here is my desire to share my image with Pyaterochka so that they recognize me the next time I come to the store.
We believe that in the future it will be much easier to work and there will be a safer mechanism for individuals. She [ЕБС] not yet popular, it’s too early to tell if there is a risk of some global leaks. My opinion: this is not the final version of the biometric system. It will go through a few iterations.
About cooperation with foreign companies
We have offices abroad. We try not to advertise [связь с Россией]. There are examples where someone broke contracts: VOLT is one of the largest electric gas station networks in the United States, which needed ad analytics, its ad monitors.
But the most [зарубежных партнеров] stay. The economy is not very favorable at the moment and the budgets of many customers are reduced. We see many companies reducing their workforce. We are not there yet. And in 2022, about half of our income is foreign and the other half Russian.
Add problems of “half-sanctions” to companies whose founders live in Russia. We are looking at options for other jurisdictions. Plan B, plan C – we are still in limbo.
On the peculiarities of financing under current conditions
Venture capital funding is currently on the decline. It’s not even in Russia, but in the United States, the trend is such that venture capital funding is transferred to projects aimed at providing security. Therefore, we do not now see that the venture capital market and the IPO market are attractive for companies.
In the current situation, it is a question of ensuring the economic feasibility of the company’s activities, that is to say of having a positive cash flow. And there are many tools. Investments from the NTI fund are a great help to our business. We have global ambitions: although a number of markets do not welcome us with open arms, the rest of the global market may well fall within our sphere of interest.
The National Technology Initiative Venture Capital Fund was established by the Russian Venture Company in 2018. Projects supported by NTI’s activities include artificial intelligence, big data analytics and storage technologies, blockchain, quantum technologies and new sources of energy.
On the shortage of IT professionals and the initiatives for their return to Russia
The initiatives of the Ministry of Digital Development seem reasonable to me. They ensure that an IT specialist, regardless of location, is wanted in a Russian development company. For us, those who left are also Russian specialists, we have [они] work. The market is shrinking a bit now, but a qualified specialist can still get a raise, move elsewhere – there are such options on the market, as long as there is demand. We are not related to geography, we do not look at the passport. That he lives somewhere in Turkey, in Kazakhstan, and works for us. We continue to work with them, we are not experiencing any staff shortages.
At the beginning of January, Kommersant, citing IT market players, wrote that the Ministry of Digital Development, together with specialized associations, was working on measures to return IT specialists who had left Russia. Among them, including – a reservation of conscription into the army and payment for a flight to Russia.
* Meta’s activities in the implementation of Facebook and Instagram in Russia are recognized as extremist and prohibited
