Haryana Police turn to facial recognition to track criminals; upload 29,416 photos
Haryana Police in India have uploaded nearly 30,000 photographs into a facial recognition system intended to help identify and track criminal suspects. The scale of the database reflects a significant expansion of biometric surveillance infrastructure within the state.
Why this matters: A database of 30,000 faces is not a small experiment. It is infrastructure. Once built, it tends to grow, and the definition of who belongs in it tends to expand too. India has no comprehensive data protection law governing police use of biometric systems, which means there is little stopping this from sweeping up people who are not criminals. Facial recognition at this scale misidentifies people, and the consequences of a false match with law enforcement can be serious. The people most likely to be wrongly flagged are rarely the ones with the resources to fight back.
Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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