Possibilities and pitfalls of facial recognition system | Explained
How does facial recognition work? How is FRS being used in India? Why is FRS concerning in the present form?
The Supreme Court announced on August 18, 2026, that it would investigate the "appropriateness" of using facial recognition systems (FRS) during a student demonstration in the capital last month. The Delhi Police admitted to utilizing the technology and claimed it was a "legitimate, bona fide, and proportionate policing measure." However, concerns persist about the potential ramifications of such technology if unregulated.
Facial recognition has become a familiar part of everyday life, with applications ranging from mobile phone screen locks to contactless air travel through the DIGI Yatra initiative. FRS can be categorized into verification and identification. Verification confirms an individual's identity against a dataset, such as mobile phone security systems, while identification scans facial features and matches them against a database without the person's consent.
The identification process relies on a pre-existing database, which can be subject to manipulation, and may produce inaccurate results due to hallucinations inherent in AI systems. This lack of accuracy poses significant ethical concerns, as misidentifications can lead to false detentions. The Delhi Police, in their affidavit, stated that the system does not automatically generate profiles of every individual present at the protest site nor surveille peaceful protesters without a criminal history.
In March 2020, the Union Home Ministry approved the implementation of the Automatic Facial Recognition System (AFRS) by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), which will only be accessible to law enforcement agencies. The system integrates with the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), which provides access to police records, chargesheets, and criminal records.
The CCTNS is also linked to the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) and the National Population Register, which holds family-wise details of around 120 crore residents in India.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Director General Praveer Ranjan announced that facial recognition cameras at major airports will be connected to a data fusion center in Delhi, potentially linking them to the NATGRID. While authorities say FRS identifies individuals with criminal backgrounds, the interconnected systems hold enough data to track a majority of citizens in the country, raising questions about future profiling.
The absence of a legal framework governing FRS use in India poses a threat to the right to privacy. The European Union has barred the use of real-time remote biometric identification in public spaces for law enforcement, except in specific cases like human trafficking and terror threats. A similar step is needed in India to safeguard privacy and prevent a surveillance state. Although the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, safeguards privacy online, a comprehensive legal structure is necessary to regulate FRS.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu - Sci-Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
