• The countries where facial recognition technology is already in use
• The countries that have approved its use (but not implemented yet)
• The countries considering the technology
• The countries that have banned it

North America

• 26 percent of Americans believe the government should restrict the use of facial recognition technology.
• In 2019, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban the police use of facial recognition technology.
• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security expects to conduct facial recognition scans on 97 percent of all air travelers by 2023.
• More than 50 percent of all Americans are currently in police facial recognition databases.
• The Bahamas recently used facial recognition technology to search for missing persons in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.
• The facial recognition cameras at Panama's Tocumen Airport identify an average of 30 people wanted by police per day.
• The Barbados airport recently installed a series of facial recognition kiosks that can reduce security wait times by 60 percent.
• Facial recognition gates in Dominican Republic's Punta Cana International Airport allow users to pass through security in just 10 seconds.

Europe 

• Belgium is so far the only country to find facial recognition in breach of national law.
• Moscow used facial recognition technology to monitor whether potential carriers of coronavirus were obeying the rules of their quarantines.
• One study found that the facial recognition technology used by London police was inaccurate in 96 percent of cases.
• The first arrest to result from facial recognition surveillance in the U.K. took place on February 27, 2020.
• 46 percent of U.K. residents believe they should be able to opt out of being filmed by facial recognition cameras.
• Germany plans to install facial recognition cameras in 134 train stations and 14 airports.
• Facial recognition cameras correctly identified 80 percent of subjects in a recent test of Germany's planned facial recognition system.
• France recently banned the use of facial recognition gates in schools.
• Nice has the most surveillance cameras of any city in France -- one for every 342 residents.
• Police facial recognition cameras in France match a subject's image against a database of 8 million photos.
• Facial recognition cameras at Prague Airport have led to at least 160 arrests since mid-2018.
• Facial recognition cameras in the Netherlands compare subjects against a police database of 2.2 million images representing 1.3 million people.

South America

• Facial recognition technology helped Argentinian police make 590 positive identifications in just six weeks in 2019.
• Guyana uses facial recognition cameras at its ports, but has promised not to use it on public streets.
• Facial recognition technology is in use in 92 percent of South American countries, the largest share of any continent.
• The facial recognition cameras at Colombia's El Dorado International Airport can verify a user's identity in less than 2 seconds.
• Facial recognition feeds from just 16 cameras were used to make 134 arrests during Brazil's Carnival festival in 2019.
• Brazil's facial recognition system alerts authorities when there is a match in physical similarities of 90 percent or greater.
• Facial recognition technology is currently implemented in at least 37 cities throughout Brazil.

Middle East & Central Asia

• Qatar is currently planning to implement a wide-ranging facial recognition identification system for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
• The Turkish military recently purchased 30 kamikaze drones with facial recognition capabilities.
• UAE police recently purchased 50 "smart glasses" that allow users to identify faces in a crowd using facial recognition technology.
• Israel has a system of 27 cross-points in the West Bank where facial recognition technology is used to track Palestinians.
• Kazakhstan is currently implementing technology that will use facial recognition in lieu of tickets on public transport.

Rest of Asia and Oceania 

• In 2017 China filed for more than 900 facial recognition patents, versus 96 filed in the United States.
• Australia has proposed using facial recognition technology to verify the ages of people seeking to watch pornography online.
• China has about 170 million surveillance cameras installed throughout the country -- approximately one for every 12 citizens.
• In China, surveillance cameras can identify someone by the gait of their walk from as far as 50 meters away.
• As of 2017, 18 countries worldwide had purchased and installed Chinese facial recognition technology.
• China will account for an estimated 45 percent of the facial recognition technology market by 2023.
• Japan plans to implement facial recognition technology at casinos as part of an effort to curb gambling addiction.
• Stores using facial recognition cameras in Japan experienced a 40 percent decrease in shoplifting incidents compared to stores without the technology.
• Approximately 2 in every 3 casino operators in Macau are currently using or testing facial recognition technology.
• Singapore plans to install facial recognition cameras on all 111,000 lamp posts throughout the country.

Africa

• Huawei is responsible for an estimated 70 percent of Africa's telecommunications network.
• According to Huawei, surveillance cameras installed in Nairobi, Kenya led to a 46 percent decrease in crime in 2015.
• In September 2019, Morocco issued a temporary, seven-month moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology.
• Tanzania is currently testing a facial recognition app that can help identify dogs that have been vaccinated for rabies.
• The Ugandan government recently spent $126 million on facial recognition CCTV technology from Huawei.
• Facial recognition technology is in use in 20 percent of African countries, the smallest share of any continent.

For the full study and results, visit https://surfshark.com/facial-recognition-map