Peril of Face Recognition

Context: Facial recognition technology enabled mass surveillance and racial profiling tends to violate basic human rights and freedoms because of its disparity in error rates (detection technology does not work for darker skin).

Perils of Face Recognition based Mass Surveillance

• Technological totalitarianism:

• Mass Surveillance: In the veneer of democracy, mass surveillance has been justified to intimidate any political dissent.

• Human Rights Violations: Due to disparity in error rates, the tech. can be used for racial profiling, increasing inequality and leading to arbitrary state’s usage.

• Governmental abuse of the technology: for getting access to public data by tying all chains of personal data together.

• Use of technology has been seen in the identification of suspects in the Delhi riot

• Total information awareness: Possible tying of personal information attached in Aadhaar-linked databases and images’.
• ‘Data Shadow’: interlinkage of data would impact citizen’s privacy in all matters including fiscal and administrative transactions.

• Legislative and Judicial disregard: as the Aadhar Act and SC’s directions in KS Puttaswamy judgement have been subverted. 

Way Forward

• Judicial Intervention: Supreme Court must subject the facial recognition to judicial review and should intervene on the basis of petitions for protecting constitutional privacy.

• Protection of public order: should not be at the cost of right to privacy and freedom.

• Drawing lessons from other democracies: that are slowing down or stopping altogether uses of facial recognition in the public sphere.

• Prohibitions by California municipalities and moratorium in EU over mass surveillance has been instituted over government’s misuse

Conclusion: Covid-19 epidemic should not be used as legitimate justification for technological surveillance of public movements and interactions that subvert the Constitutional rights of citizens.