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Chinese park installs facial recognition software to stop toilet paper thieves




"Many old people come here for free toilet paper. They were probably born in 1940s or 1950s," said Wu Qingqi, a visitor to the park. "During that time, people were very poor. And they somehow still are in fear of being poor. Other migrant workers come here too."

The people CNN spoke to said that while the process can be inconvenient, it's a necessary evil.

"I think it's necessary. There are many people wasting public resources," Wu said.

"They should have done this decades ago," said Zhang Shaomin, who is retired and visits the park frequently.

What about privacy?

The whole idea of having to introduce yourself to a machine before getting toilet paper may seem very "1984," but China has a different relationship with public bathrooms and personal freedoms than say, the United States. In some areas, Wu said, people will walk to a public bathroom rather than use their own.



"You can do nothing about it even though it's related to personal privacy," said Liu Mei, a housewife visiting the park. "People come here for free toilet paper, they have already lost their self dignity. Do you think they would understand what personal privacy is?"