Railways launches facial recognition cameras to track commuters

28 Aug 2021 CW Team

The Indian Railways has set up a network of around 500 facial recognition cameras to track millions of daily commuters.

This is in line with the stepped-up surveillance effort by the Indian government.

The system was developed by NtechLab, a Russian start-up, and has been operational for the past month at approximately 30 railway stations in Gujarat and Maharashtra, including Mumbai. Around seven million commuters use the Mumbai local train on a daily basis.

The report cites that India has increased its use of video surveillance, including facial recognition, throughout the country.

The government has also released an open tender for the National Automated Facial Recognition System, which is an integrated nationwide central system.

According to the report, the creators of the face recognition system claim that it can recognise up to 50 persons in a single frame at once, including those wearing masks, and that the system will be able to tally passenger traffic at any given time.

The technology can also identify criminals, track people of interest through a live camera, and hunt for missing people.

Critics have expressed concern about the potential influence of facial recognition technology on the privacy and civil liberties of the public.

They are concerned that this may be used to track down protestors after police used Trinetra, a similar facial recognition system, to track down and arrest over 1,000 farmers at an anti-government rally.

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Also read: Indian Railways rolls out new generation smart coaches

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