In response to a Right to Information (RTI) request filed by the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), Delhi Police on Tuesday said that it onsidered a match to be “positive” if there was an accuracy rate of 80 per cent.
The Internet Freedom Foundation is an Indian non-governmental organization advocating for civil liberties online.
Delhi Police officials approved the use of the algorithms for identifying participants in investigating the Kisan Rally at the Red Fort and the Jahangir Puri riots.
The software’s accuracy registered as low as 2 percent with Delhi Police in 2019, and it can be as high as 99.97 percent, according to the Economic Times, but a subject would almost have to be posing in direct, even light and facing the camera.
Facial Recognition - A Threat to Privacy?
A facial recognition system is a technology capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces, typically employed to authenticate users through ID verification services, works by pinpointing and measuring facial features from a given image.
Facial recognition systems are employed throughout the world today by governments and private companies.
Their effectiveness varies, and some systems have previously been scrapped because of their ineffectiveness.
The use of facial recognition systems has also raised controversy, with claims that the systems violate citizens' privacy, commonly make incorrect identifications, encourage gender norms and racial profiling, and do not protect important biometric data.
The appearance of synthetic media such as deepfakes has also raised concerns about its security.
While the government claims that privacy issues will be taken care of, many have previously criticised facial recognition technologies citing ‘pervasive surveillance.’
Earlier this year, Telangana High Court issued notices to the state government and Hyderabad police commissioner to respond to a petition that questioned the alleged use of face recognition technology by officials without the sanction of law.
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