Rail providers in Switzerland push back on false face recognition information

Swiss rail service providers push back against media claims on facial that the new customer frequency measurement systems installed at rail stations will employ facial recognition technology.

SBB GmbH and Swiss Rail have denied media reports claiming that the new customer frequency measurement systems installed at rail stations will employ facial recognition technology to collect personal data, potentially compromising privacy.

Both SBB and Swiss Rail have clarified that computer vision technology will be used to record the flow of commuters more accurately. The head of Estate management for SBB said that the they want to know how subgroups of their customers behave at the rail station, especially those with skis or bicycles. However, critics have still insisted that the language used in the original tender indicated that the person should clearly be recognized, including their traits such as gender and age-implying collection of biometric data via facial scans.