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Facial recognition technology in Russia : do the citizens of Russia accept it?

Chernenkova, Anna (2021) Facial recognition technology in Russia : do the citizens of Russia accept it?

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Abstract:Background: Nowadays, one of the world’s largest facial recognition systems operates in the Russian capital, Moscow. The Russian government widely used facial recognition technology to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. New facial recognition initiatives are constantly taking place not only in Moscow but also in other Russian cities. However, very little is known about how Russian citizens perceive facial recognition technology and its active usage in Russia. As followed, this research intends to identify how the citizens of Russia perceive facial recognition technology, how much they accept its usage, and what factors might lead to this acceptance. Studies show that people’s opinions on this technology are generally influenced by different factors, depending on the country where they live. This study claims that socio-demographic factors, experience with facial recognition technology, trust in the government, perceived consequences, perceived usefulness, and perceived reliability affect the perception and acceptance of facial recognition technology by Russian citizens. Methods: The research is based on the TAM and UTAUT models and the privacy-security trade-off literature that consider certain factors (socio-demographic factors, experience with facial recognition technology, trust in the government, perceived consequences, perceived usefulness, and perceived reliability) of people’s perception and acceptance of various technologies. The research is performed by means of a cross-sectional and web-based survey. Results: The research outcome demonstrated that perceived consequences, perceived usefulness, perceived reliability, and trust in the government are the factors leading to the acceptance of facial recognition technology by Russian citizens. It also showed that socio-demographic factors (gender, age, level of education, level of income), and experience with facial recognition technology do not influence the acceptance of facial recognition technology by Russian citizens. In general, the respondents incline to not accept the usage of facial recognition technology in Russia. However, they perceive facial recognition technology as useful and reliable and think that the consequences of its usage can be positive and negative at the same time. Conclusion: The outcome of the study reinforces current findings in the domain stating that perceived usefulness and perceived reliability have a decisive importance for the public in accepting facial recognition technology. Additionally, the new findings show that for Russia, trust in the government influences the acceptance levels of facial recognition technology. It was also found that in Russia, people who gather news from television have more support towards the usage of facial recognition technology as compared to those getting news from social media and other information sources. It gives room for further research in this area such as applying these factors to different national contexts. It can also be suggested to include other socio-demographic factors such as the areas where respondents reside or regions of Russia where respondents live if the research is to be replicated with a bigger sample. These factors could be added to see if the opinion on facial recognition technology in Russia depends on the location of the respondents since this division was not done by the current research.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:05 communication studies
Programme:Communication Studies MSc (60713)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/88683
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