Software to track who attend church services – and how often … – Reformed Daily

An American company, Churchix in Las Vegas, has developed software that congregations can better track who visits their services – or those who do not (anymore). Certainly large (mega) churches, often with multiple services on a Sunday can have ease of this “face recognition software.”

Using the software the faces of incoming people are “trapped” in a picture or video (via the security for example), and then compared with those in the database of the church, wrote The Washington Post last week.

Churchix emerged from the Israeli company Skakash, which specializes in face recognition, among others benefits airports, enterprises in the legal field and casinos. According to Moshe Greenshpan, founder and director of Skakash showed at some point also an international church interest in the product (Face-Six). This led in February to the start of Churchix, which focuses on churches.

“See you on Sunday”

About forty churches have already purchased the software, Greenshpan official told The Washington Post. How much did they have to count down before, he did not lose. However, he indicated that the membership of the municipalities varies from 100 to 3000.

According Greenshpan the software makes it easier for parishes to track who attend services or who (regularly) is missing. “If any member not three or four times, you can then call him, like:” See you on Sunday “-” See you Sunday ‘”

Now all churches often take, how. therefore, stand in allegiance or their members, according to the director of Skakash. Its software can help them, he thinks. “And if you see that a person regularly attends the meetings, call him or her example easier to ask for a gift.”

Privacy

But what about privacy? Greenshpan advises congregations to ask their members -in the context of the transparency to register. However, most municipalities now use software Churchix do this without their members know, he added.

“We believe that facial recognition is normal,” said Greenshpan. “And as the technology gets better, it is also cheaper.”

within walking Just

Indeed, it is true that the Most congregations currently already have one or another system with which they can engage their members ‘measure’, says prof. dr. Scott Thumma opposite The Washington Post. Thumma is director of the Hartford Institute on Religion in the United States, which is mainly engaged in research into mega churches. Anyhow this have an automated membership management system, he said, and does not contain rare that pictures of the members. Thumma be pointed out that an important part of the appeal of mega-churches is that you ‘just’ inside can run, without having the feeling that everyone is watching you.