Forwarded from NoGoolag
India’s Plan to Build World’s Largest Facial Recognition System Raises Privacy and Surveillance Concerns - CPO Magazine
Within a year, India could have the world’s largest facial recognition system in place.Yet, there has been little or no debate about safeguards for such a system within India’s parliament, and many privacy advocates both inside and outside the country are already warning about the potential privacy and surveillance issues involved. According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, which is organizing bids for this proposed facial recognition system, the chief aim is modernizing the police force and making it easier to catch criminals and track down missing persons. But there is a very real risk that such a system could transform India into the world’s largest surveillance state.
How the facial recognition system will work
As outlined in a 172-page bid document prepared by the National Crime Records Bureau, the new facial recognition system must meet a number of important guidelines. First and foremost, it must be able to recognize images from a diverse range of sources, such as CCTV cameras, mobile handheld devices used by Indian law enforcement officers, and even photos from local newspapers. Secondly, the facial recognition system needs to be integrated into the various criminal databases used by Indian police stations, such that it becomes much easier to find, track or apprehend suspects anywhere in the country. Moreover, the new facial recognition system must be able to compensate for any of the various factors – such as plastic surgery, scars, beards, or tattoos – that might be used by criminals to obscure their appearance.
The scale and scope of the new facial recognition system, as might be imagined, is massive. It will apply to all 29 states and 7 union territories of India, and will eventually be scaled up to include images of all 1.3 billion people living in India. It will also likely require rapid deployment of CCTV cameras across India, especially in densely populated urban centers. For example, India only has 10 CCTV cameras per 1,000 citizens in New Delhi. By comparison, there are 68 CCTV cameras per 1,000 people in London and 113 per 1,000 in Shanghai. So Indian citizens can count on the sudden appearance of cameras all around them – on busy streets, in shopping areas, and in any high-density population area where crime might be an issue.
Surveillance concerns about facial recognition
Understandably, privacy advocates such as Apar Gupta, Executive Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation, are concerned that a system designed primarily for safety and security might be abused. Gupta says that details about the facial recognition system are sketchy at best – it’s not even known how many bidders actually applied to build such a system for India. In addition, it is not clear where it will be deployed; how data will be used, collected and shared; or how data storage will be regulated.
And such a facial recognition system might be used in other, unknown ways. There are already plans afoot, for example, to unite this facial recognition system with all of the other ways that the Indian state already has to track its citizens. Most notable of these is the nation’s Aadhaar program, a national biometric ID card program. There is also talk of building a so-called “National Intelligence Grid” linking data from the worlds of banking, finance, taxation and travel with facial recognition data. At a moment’s notice, an Indian police officer in any of the nation’s 29 states might be able to pull up information about a citizen or perform a facial recognition scan – perhaps without the knowledge or consent of the citizen. There also have been efforts discussed within India to link Aadhaar biometric data with social media account data. Imagine algorithms powered by artificial intelligence scanning social media photos for people, all without their knowledge.
#surveillance #facial #recognition #India
Within a year, India could have the world’s largest facial recognition system in place.Yet, there has been little or no debate about safeguards for such a system within India’s parliament, and many privacy advocates both inside and outside the country are already warning about the potential privacy and surveillance issues involved. According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, which is organizing bids for this proposed facial recognition system, the chief aim is modernizing the police force and making it easier to catch criminals and track down missing persons. But there is a very real risk that such a system could transform India into the world’s largest surveillance state.
How the facial recognition system will work
As outlined in a 172-page bid document prepared by the National Crime Records Bureau, the new facial recognition system must meet a number of important guidelines. First and foremost, it must be able to recognize images from a diverse range of sources, such as CCTV cameras, mobile handheld devices used by Indian law enforcement officers, and even photos from local newspapers. Secondly, the facial recognition system needs to be integrated into the various criminal databases used by Indian police stations, such that it becomes much easier to find, track or apprehend suspects anywhere in the country. Moreover, the new facial recognition system must be able to compensate for any of the various factors – such as plastic surgery, scars, beards, or tattoos – that might be used by criminals to obscure their appearance.
The scale and scope of the new facial recognition system, as might be imagined, is massive. It will apply to all 29 states and 7 union territories of India, and will eventually be scaled up to include images of all 1.3 billion people living in India. It will also likely require rapid deployment of CCTV cameras across India, especially in densely populated urban centers. For example, India only has 10 CCTV cameras per 1,000 citizens in New Delhi. By comparison, there are 68 CCTV cameras per 1,000 people in London and 113 per 1,000 in Shanghai. So Indian citizens can count on the sudden appearance of cameras all around them – on busy streets, in shopping areas, and in any high-density population area where crime might be an issue.
Surveillance concerns about facial recognition
Understandably, privacy advocates such as Apar Gupta, Executive Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation, are concerned that a system designed primarily for safety and security might be abused. Gupta says that details about the facial recognition system are sketchy at best – it’s not even known how many bidders actually applied to build such a system for India. In addition, it is not clear where it will be deployed; how data will be used, collected and shared; or how data storage will be regulated.
And such a facial recognition system might be used in other, unknown ways. There are already plans afoot, for example, to unite this facial recognition system with all of the other ways that the Indian state already has to track its citizens. Most notable of these is the nation’s Aadhaar program, a national biometric ID card program. There is also talk of building a so-called “National Intelligence Grid” linking data from the worlds of banking, finance, taxation and travel with facial recognition data. At a moment’s notice, an Indian police officer in any of the nation’s 29 states might be able to pull up information about a citizen or perform a facial recognition scan – perhaps without the knowledge or consent of the citizen. There also have been efforts discussed within India to link Aadhaar biometric data with social media account data. Imagine algorithms powered by artificial intelligence scanning social media photos for people, all without their knowledge.
#surveillance #facial #recognition #India
CPO Magazine
India’s Plan to Build World’s Largest Facial Recognition System Raises Privacy and Surveillance Concerns - CPO Magazine
Within a year, India could have the world’s largest facial recognition system in place. But there is a very real risk that such a system could transform India into the world’s largest surveillance state.
Half of a million Indian Payment Card records on Sale in DarkWeb. {Data Breach}
📖 Read more: https://m.economictimes.com/tech/internet/jokers-laughing-fresh-database-of-half-a-million-indian-payment-card-records-on-sale-in-the-dark-web/articleshow/74001574.cms
#DataBreach #India #News
Database of 461,976 payment card records currently on sale on Joker’s Stash, a popular underground cardshop in the dark web.📖 Read more: https://m.economictimes.com/tech/internet/jokers-laughing-fresh-database-of-half-a-million-indian-payment-card-records-on-sale-in-the-dark-web/articleshow/74001574.cms
#DataBreach #India #News
India: J&K invoked UAPA against social media users for defying Government’s Internet Ban.
📖 Read more: https://telegra.ph/JK-UAPA-invoked-against-social-media-users-for-defying-governments-internet-ban-02-19
📡 @howtobeprivateonline
#India #VPN #FreeSpeech #News
J&K police filed complaint against Social media users who uses VPN to Bypass Internet restrictions.📖 Read more: https://telegra.ph/JK-UAPA-invoked-against-social-media-users-for-defying-governments-internet-ban-02-19
📡 @howtobeprivateonline
#India #VPN #FreeSpeech #News