2 weeks ago
Gokhale Questions ECI Data Sharing for Delhi Police Facial Recognition
Saket Gokhale is asking where Delhi Police got the pictures used by its facial-recognition system.
Police acknowledged in the Supreme Court that it used the technology during a students’ protest at Jantar Mantar.
Facial recognition compares a person’s face with pictures stored in a database.
Gokhale says the Election Commission told him in a 2020 RTI response that it had shared a complete photo voter list with Delhi Police during a Delhi riots investigation.
He questions whether voter photos were also used during the Jantar Mantar protest.
He also asks whether agencies holding Aadhaar, tax or transport records shared information.
The articles do not report answers from those agencies to these questions.
Gokhale wants Delhi Police to identify the database behind the facial-recognition system.
He also referred to the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, which he said had not been fully notified.
Former Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale asked whether the Election Commission of India shared databases with Delhi Police for facial recognition during a students’ protest at Jantar Mantar.
Delhi Police acknowledged in the Supreme Court that it deployed facial recognition technology during the protest last month.
Gokhale cited a 2020 RTI response in which he said the Election Commission admitted sharing the complete photo voter list with Delhi Police during a Delhi riots investigation.
He asked whether voter photos, Aadhaar data, tax records or transport databases were supplied for facial-recognition use.
Gokhale urged Delhi Police and other agencies to disclose which databases were used and whether such data sharing is continuing.
- Who
- Former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale, the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and other government agencies.
- What
- Gokhale asked whether government agencies shared photo databases with Delhi Police for facial recognition during a protest.
- Where
- Jantar Mantar in New Delhi; the use of facial recognition was acknowledged in proceedings before the Supreme Court of India.
- When
- During a students’ protest at Jantar Mantar last month; Gokhale also cited a 2020 RTI response.
- Why
- Gokhale seeks disclosure of the database used and clarification about government data sharing.
Key facts
- Technology used
- Delhi Police acknowledged deploying facial recognition during the Jantar Mantar students’ protest.
- Questioner
- Saket Gokhale, a former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member of Parliament.
- Earlier data sharing
- Gokhale said a 2020 RTI response recorded the Election Commission admitting that it shared the entire photo voter list with Delhi Police during a Delhi riots investigation.
- Agencies questioned
- Gokhale named the Election Commission, Aadhaar, the Income Tax Department and the Transport Department.
- Central question
- Gokhale asked what database of citizens’ photographs and details enabled Delhi Police’s facial-recognition matches.
- Data-protection law
- Gokhale referred to the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, passed by Parliament in August 2023 and described by him as not yet fully notified.
Quotes
Saket Gokhale
Former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament
“There’s a reason that the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act has not yet been fully notified despite being passed by Parliament three years ago in August 2023. It’s two simple questions really: Will the Delhi Police disclose what database it is using for facial recognition? Will ECI and other bodies confirm whether they are still providing photo databases to Delhi Police?”
deccanchronicle.com
“In response to an RTI of mine in 2020, the Election Commission admitted that it had shared the entire voter list with photos with Delhi Police during the Delhi riots investigation. Interestingly, ECI’s own rules prohibit sharing of photo electoral rolls with any agency. And yet, the ECI broke its own rules in 2020 and handed over the data to Delhi Police.”
deccanchronicle.com
Sources
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