The Delhi police using Automated Facial Recognition Technology to screen crowds

Indian legislation enforcement is beginning to significantly impact facial recognition expertise. Facial recognition Technology is an automated process of comparing two images of faces to determine whether they represent the same individual. The Delhi Police trial of a facial recognition system commissioned by the Delhi High Court helped correctly identify approximately 3000 missing children. Experts state that 80% accuracy is not good enough for criminal investigation cases. It is far too low to ensure the accurate identification of individuals. The eventual legal answer may lie in whether there is a clear distinction between physical and virtual intrusion of privacy.

New Delhi police are using facial recognition:

The Delhi police, for instance, recently used Automated Facial Recognition Technology (AFRS) to screen crowds at political rallies against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).  Being a vulnerable demographic, children also need greater protection as far as the collection and processing of data are concerned. This can result in a false positive, where a person is misidentified as someone else, or a false negative where a person is not verified as themselves.

Facial recognition technology is typically deployed without consent, by both the private and public sector players. The Delhi Police might additionally lead to harassment of individuals from communities that were traditionally focused on by legislation enforcement officers. The use of AFRS has met with considerable ire of experts since it was not introduced through legislation passed by parliament and this renders it unlawful.

It aims to bring transparency and accountability to the relevant government stakeholders involved in the deployment and implementation of facial recognition technology (FRT) projects in India. The Delhi Police added, that the privacy of any citizen is sacrosanct and Delhi Police is well aware of that. It is also not the case that an equal and unbiased deployment of FRT by the police will necessarily benefit the public.