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India To Have Its Own Centralised Facial Recognition System To Complement Policing And Law Enforcement Nationwide
Swarajya Staff
Sep 20, 2019, 02:27 PM | Updated 02:27 PM IST
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In a bid to improve policing throughout the country, the central government will next month begin inviting bids to create a centralised facial recognition system which can be used by law enforcement agencies to catch criminals, find missing individuals, and carry out other important tasks, reports Business Standard.
The planned system will collate data and footage from a vast multitude o surveillance cameras spread throughout the country; the facial recognition system will also be linked with government databases containing information such as passport details and fingerprints of millions of citizens.
Proponents of this system believe it has immense potential in helping to improve the effectiveness of Indian police, which is one of the most understaffed internationally with only one policeman for 724 people.
However, there are fears from certain quarters that India could be heading in the direction of a China-style surveillance state, and others doubt the government’s ability and willingness to ensure data privacy.
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