Expressing his concerns over the use of facial recognition technology by the Chennai police, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) MP Dr Ravikumar wrote a letter to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday, December 10. This comes days after a person from Chennai shared on Twitter how he was stopped at random by the police who took a picture of him. In response to his tweet, the Chennai police responded that “there was nothing to worry about” and that they were updating their Facial Recognition Software database with pictures of citizens moving around at night.
In his letter, Ravikumar said, “There is no law at present, at the national or state level, that allows for this practice employed by the police in Tamil Nadu. The Identification of Prisoners Act, of 1920 is perhaps the only law governing the activities of the police taking photographs of persons without their consent, and even this Act allows photographs to be taken only of people who have been arrested or convicted of a crime.” He further added that this Act does not have provisions for the photographs to be shared among law enforcement agencies.
Citing a TNM report on the subject, the VCK MP said that the Chennai city police plans to update their Facial Recognition Software database with visuals from CCTV footage as well. He added, “It is relevant to note that Chennai has one of the highest CCTV densities in the world, even falling behind Delhi. This alludes to a larger issue of Tamil Nadu turning into a surveillance state, with the practice of police stopping citizens to take their photographs being a stepping stone to the same.”
The letter further stated that there is no Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for such acts by the police and it is important for citizens to know about the purpose for which these photographs will be used, which other agencies they would be shared with, how long the photographs would be stored, and when they would be deleted (if at all). Ravikumar said, “Since it is the police taking these photos, free consent can also not be given as it is difficult to refuse something when demanded by someone in as high a position of authority as the police. Further, several facial recognition software have been proven to be discriminatory and to contain inherent biases. There may also be bias in the kind of people the police might stop to subject them to photography.”
Ravikumar also stated that police officers photographing citizens without their consent violates several international conventions that India is a signatory to, such as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (Article 12) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 17). He added that this practice must be stopped immediately until there is a law that gives police such powers. The MP also recommended that an independent body must be set up to monitor the use of facial recognition technology and its impact on society.