Delhi Police have installed facial recognition system (FRS) units around the protest site at Jantar Mantar to identify wanted criminals, absconders and history-sheeters, The Indian Express reported on Friday.
The units have been positioned at key entry and exit points around the protest venue and are directly linked to the Delhi Police database. This will allow officers to monitor the system in real time and instantly verify the identity of any wanted criminal, bad character or history-sheeter, the report further said.
Not aimed at ordinary protesters, police say
According to the report, the surveillance system is meant to track and identify individuals with criminal antecedents who may try to “infiltrate the protest” and disturb law and order.
A senior police officer told IE that the exercise was meant to check whether the facial recognition system could match individuals against records already held in the police’s criminal database. However, the Delhi Police stayed silent on key details about the size and makeup of the database, how accurately the system performed during the protest and what procedure kicks in once a potential match turns up.
How the system works
According to the IE report, facial recognition works by mapping a person’s facial features from a photograph or video feed and converting them into a unique digital template. That template is then run against images already stored in a database. Where the similarity score crosses a set threshold, the system flags the person as a possible match, pending further verification.
The Delhi Police had previously said it classified a match as “positive” only once the system’s accuracy score touched at least 80%, the report further stated.
Surveillance vehicle at site
Among the technologies deployed at the Jantar Mantar protest is the Ikshana mobile surveillance vehicle, first introduced ahead of the G20 Summit in 2023. The vehicle is fitted with eight cameras offering a 360-degree field of view and runs AI-assisted facial recognition software to analyse live video feeds in real time.
A senior Delhi Police officer, quoted by The Indian Express, said the software cross-references faces captured on CCTV with police databases to identify known criminals who may be present at the protest.
Laws related to surveillance in India
Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, facial images and digital templates tied to identifiable individuals count as personal data in the broadest sense. But Section 17 of the law carves out exemptions for several obligations when data is processed to prevent, detect, investigate or prosecute an offence, the IE report stated. The Centre also retains the power to exempt notified state instrumentalities citing grounds like state security and public order.
What the law does not offer is a dedicated framework for police use of facial recognition, IE reported. There are no rules governing watchlists, matching thresholds, independent audits or how long data can be retained. An officer told Express that there are no fixed retention guidelines existed for the protest footage, since it might still be needed for a future investigation.