Experts say that a uniform industry standard should be set to protect users’ privacy in facial recognition, which has seen an explosive growth in recent years, Economic Information Daily reported on Oct. 16.

Statistics shows that China’s facial recognition market size exceeded 1 billion RMB ($152 million) in 2016 and it is projected to hit 5.1 billion RMB in 2021.

As the technology matures and more apps become available, a uniform industry standard should be set to prevent data theft and protect users’ privacy, said Shan Shiguang, a researcher at the Institute of Computing Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Facial recognition has been widely applied in various sectors, including online and offline payment, cash machines, smart home, and check-in services, with a recognition accuracy of at least 99.6 percent, according to Chen Jidong, technical director of facial recognition at Ant Financial.

Angle, light, expressions, make-up, age, and photographic quality are just some of the factors that can influence accuracy, said Chen, noting that despite some technical problems, the technology will improve through deep learning.

In addition, other technologies are also adopted to ensure the security of facial recognition. For example, Alipay encrypts users’ face information and takes other precautionary measures to protect their digital information.