NATION
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Monday September 2, 2019 Popular new software sparks privacy concerns
Face apps need rules: lawyer
Students sit around baskets of corn, peppers and nuts on the first day of the new semester on Sunday at a primary
school in Hefei, East China’s Anhui Province. The characters read kaixue, or school begins. Photo: VCG
By Ji YuqiaoChina’s investment into research and develop-
ment (R&D) reached 1.97 trillion yuan ($275 bil-
lion) in 2018, which Chinese experts said demon-
strates the country’s improved competitiveness
in science and research amid the shift from im-
porting technologies to independent innovation.
China’s investment in R&D in 2018 increased
11.8 percent year on year and was the third dou-
ble-digit growth in three continuous years, the
People’s Daily reported on Saturday, citing a Na-
tional Bureau of Statistics report.
The input accounted for 2.19 percent of
China’s 2018 GDP and surpassed 2.13 percent
achieved by 15 European countries in 2017, ac-
cording to the People’s Daily.
Chinese experts said the growth reflects the
improvement of China’s science and technology
and shows China is transforming from import
and imitation to independent innovation.
Growth comes along with an international
trend of scientific and technological revolution,
said Ju Jinwen, a research fellow at the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Econom-
ics in Beijing.
As China restructures its industry and re-
mains in urgent need of high-quality develop-
ment, innovation has become a major force to
drive economic development, Ju told the Global
Times on Sunday.
In 2018, China’s investment in basic research
exceeded 100 billion yuan for the first time, ac-
cording to the bureau report.
Increasing investment in basic research, or
pure research, can improve the original innova-
tion capability, as proven by the development ex-
perience of many countries, Fang Zhulan, a pro-
fessor of Renmin University of China’s School of
Economics, told the People’s Daily.
Chinese enterprises have become the major
driving force for growing input in innovation,
whose average percentage of investment in re-
search, researchers and patents exceeded 75 per-
cent, according to the national newspaper report.
Since 2018, China’s technical giants including
Alibaba, Tencent and Huawei have all established
research institutions, hoping to cement their
position in fundamental research, the paper re-
ported in May.
China’s input in R&D has reportedly ranked
second in the world after the US since 2013.
Meanwhile, there is still space for China in the
fields of R&D such as increasing governmental
financial support and establishing a complete in-
centive policy system, bureau statistician Li Yin
told the paper.By Cao Siqi and Xu KeyueLawyers called for enhanced manage-
ment of mobile apps after a company
revised its rules amid privacy con-
cerns about an AI app that empowers
users to replace a celebrity face with
their own.
Chinese dating app giant Momo
launched the app Zao on Friday
night.
Downloads at the iOS app store
climbed to the top among free enter-
tainment apps as of press time.
Users can upload a selfie and swap
it with a celebrity in videos borrowed
from movies or TV shows.
Users must surrender their phone
number if they want to share the
video on WeChat moments and they
should also authorize Zao to connect
with their WeChat account.
Zao’s “overbearing clauses” un-
doubtedly violated user privacy and
once personal information was
leaked and abused, it could lead to
criminal incidents, Beijing lawyerZhang Xinnian told the Global Times
on Sunday.
He pointed out the problem was
rampant among Chinese web users,
many of whom were forced by inter-
net companies to share their private
information and data.
Zhang called for enhanced man-
agement of internet apps and app
development companies to ensure
security of user information.
He also suggested users improve
their privacy awareness while using
online apps.
Other internet users worried that
their selfies might be used by crimi-
nals to steal their money through
face-scanning payment apps.
But Chinese online payment plat-
form Alipay said on Saturday that
face-changing apps are unable to do
this, The Beijing News reported.
None have been able to employ an
altered user’s portrait as an identity
check on Alipay, according to the re-
port.
A user who requested anonymitytold the Global Times Sunday that al-
though she had privacy concerns, she
liked the app as she could see herself
performing in a famous drama or
movie, realizing a personal dream.
Zao changed its user agreement
on Saturday and in the updated
agreement, the portrait authorized
by the user is limited to use on the
platform and relevant content will be
saved in accordance with laws and
regulations.
Zao would not use the portrait in
any other form unless the user agrees
again, the agreement said.
New users can revoke or delete
their portrait according to the plat-
form’s rules, according to the agree-
ment.
Face-changing technology has
spawned a lucrative underground
market for fake porn videos using ce-
lebrities’ faces previously before the
controversy over Zao.
A package of 700 videos was re-
ported to be on sale for 158 yuan
($22).By Xu KeyueConsumers of Chinese cosmet-
ic surgery in the summer holi-
days are getting younger – with
more college students and high
school graduates – according to
an industry report which also
highlighted rampant unquali-
fied beauty institutions.
Students dissatisfied with
their appearance accounted
for 51 percent of consumers inthe summertime, 20 percent
of them male, according to the
2019 Summer Medical Beauty
Report released by Gengmei
cosmetic surgery app based on
data from its 36 million users
and more than 8,000 beauty
institutions in June, July and
August.
The report noted that peo-
ple born between 1990 and
1995 contributed 73 percent of
spending on cosmetic surgeryand those born after 2000 con-
tributed 5 percent.
More than 70 percent of
cosmetic surgery consumers
said they wanted to find a bet-
ter job or spouse. Ten percent
said they wanted to become an
internet celebrity relying on a
better appearance, according to
the report.
The result was echoed by
an employee of a Beijing-based
beauty institution who told theGlobal Times on Sunday on
condition of anonymity that
many university students came
to their institution as they were
dissatisfied with their facial out-
line.
Hyaluronic acid injection,
facelift and eyelid surgery are
the three most popular, the re-
port said.
Nearly 70 percent of cos-
metic surgery consumers said
they did not bother checking onthe qualifications of the institu-
tions and nearly 30 percent said
they had encountered unquali-
fied institutions.
“Although cosmetic surgery
can improve the appearance
somewhat, an error during sur-
gery will not only cause the pa-
tient’s face to look unnatural or
worse, but also risk their life,”
the anonymous beauty care
worker told the Global Times
on Sunday.Students becoming main consumers of medical beauty in summertime: report
China’s R&D input hits
2 trillion yuan for 2018
School begins
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