India’s first Facial Tech Tracker goes live on November 27

Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) will launch India’s first tracker for facial recognition systems on Nov 27.

On Monday, the Foundation announced it is all set to launch Project Panoptic, India’s first facial recognition technology (FRT) tracker. “It maps the development & deployment of facial recognition technology projects across India. We will go live on Nov 27,” it announced. Internet Freedom Foundation demanded the Govt pass data protection law as well as specific law about facial recognition technology.

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has begun making plans to set up an Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) with an estimated budget of Rs 308 crore & create a national database of photographs. The project is aimed at swiftly identifying criminals by gathering existing data from the passport database, Crime & Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS), Interoperable Criminal Justice System, KhoyaPaya Portal , Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) & any other image database available with police or other departments.

Data privacy activists said the use of this technology without having legal safeguards would lead to discrimination & exclusion.

Internet Freedom Foundation said that “In the absence of a strong data protection law, AFRS could lead to mass surveillance. A strong data protection act should be brought in to hold AFRS accountable in terms of data collection, storage & usage of data, including sharing of data across government agencies. This should also include the sharing of data with third parties".

IFF demanded the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) & NCRB roll back request for proposal (RFP) & halt the ongoing tender process. It asked the Govt to place a moratorium of three years on the use of technology.

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