New Delhi: Despite numerous studies revealing that face masks drastically degrade the accuracy rates of facial recognition systems, the demand to recognise faces wearing masks persists. A government-sponsored facial recognition surveillance system, billed as India’s largest such effort to date, is proposing to detect faces when covered with masks, or even modified by plastic surgery.
According to a fresh tender issued last week by the National Crime Records Bureau, a body under the Home Ministry, the surveillance tool will process more than a crore facial images, and will also integrate with existing centralised crime databases like CCTNS.The fact that this project does not require the installation of CCTV cameras in the only positive component of this tender, which also helps to limit this centralised tool from enabling full-blown surveillance.
The requirement to detect faces with masks comes despite several studies repeatedly showing that face masks severely reduce the accuracy rates of facial recognition systems.This is not the first time that the NCRB has tried to build a surveillance system like this. In fact, it has already released two iterations of the tender documents over the last two years and held multiple meetings with companies that wanted to develop the facial recognition system.
As per NCRB, Indian companies were not very happy with the qualification criteria laid down in the previous tender documents since many of them believed that it favoured bigger foreign firms.
For instance, authorised agents, licensees or collaborators of foreign firms are prohibited from bidding for the development of the tool and while a bidder should have annual revenue of at least Rs 50 crore in each of the last three years, DPIIT recognised startups are exempt from this requirement. The system will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 20 crore.
Companies like Japan’s NEC, EY, TCS, and public sector undertakings like BECIL, C-DOT and Bharat Electronics have previously shown interest in building this system.
India currently has no data protection law to safeguard the sensitive personal data of Indians from the government or private companies. And experts say that the deployment of facial recognition systems is in violation of citizens’ right to privacy.
It is impossible to say that any technology is 100% full proof of any shortcomings. There are many reasons as to why over-dependence on FRT might cause more harm than good. There are many instances where people’s images are used without their consent. Even one instance of such things is too many.
A source revels that, the technology is nowhere close to being infallible, with incorrect facial recognition matches even leading to the arrest of innocent people in the US.
It is also problematic that the narrative on such intrusions can be easily managed by governments. Simply by highlighting every instance where these have helped solve a crime, for instance. By limiting information only to such cases, it can easily convince people that the system is too important not to have.
But more so problematically, people are currently practically crying out for more surveillance on the premise it will help reduce crime and deter criminals. That narrative seems impossible to shake off for now, with the wide and even bipartisan political support it has.
