Lok Sabha Question No. 4697 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-29
Subject: Facial Recognition System
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Balashowry Vallabbhaneni

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4697

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 29.03.2023

## FACIAL RECOGNITION SYSTEM

## 4697.   SHRI BALASHOWRY VALLABHANENI:

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:

- (a) the total number of facial recognition systems already in use by Government authorities in the country;
- (b) whether the Government is aware of any cases where the Facial Recognition Technology (FRT)   has been misused for malicious purposes;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
- (d) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  a  minimum  accuracy  rate  of  95%  is  required  for  vehicle recognition;
- (e) if so, whether the Government is aware that the accuracy rate of FRT is between 80-90% which leaves a lot of room for false positives;
- (f) the number of false positive cases reported by authorities using FRT during the last three years; and
- (g) whether the Government plans to regulate the FRT to avoid misuse by law enforcement agencies and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a):   Facial recognition is a way of identifying or confirming an individual's identity using their face. Facial recognition systems can be used to identify people in photos, videos, or in real-time. The areas where facial recognition is being used by government authorities are as under:

- i. Facial  recognition  system  is  part  of  the  Digi  Yatra  initiative  of  the  government  for providing passengers seamless and hassle-free experience at airports without the need for  verification  of  ticket  and  ID  at  multiple  touch  points.  Digi  Yatra  has  been launched on 01.12.2022 at Delhi, Bangalore and Varanasi Airports.
- ii. Department  of  Telecommunication  has  undertaken  a  project  on  AI  and  Facial Recognition  powered  solution  for  Telecom  SIM  Subscriber  Verification  (ASTR) which is a Next-Gen indigenous and innovative solution for detecting and weeding out fraudulent SIM subscribers, who have obtained mobile multiple connections using fake/forged  documents,  across  all  TSPs,  by  utilizing  Artificial  Intelligence,  Facial Recognition and Big Data Analytics.
- iii. C-DOT has deployed its indigenously designed facial recognition system at its New Delhi campus office, TCIL office in New Delhi and at the DOT Sanchar Bhawan, as part of a proof of concept (POC).
- iv. Facial Recognition System by NIC AI Satyapikaanan API based services is facilitated over Meghraj Cloud. Around 6.86 Crore AI service requested were received by AI

Satyapikaanan from various users in FY 2022-23 till 20 th March 2023. The users of the services are:

-  CBSE, NTA, Result Division - Candidate's Registration System (CARES)
-  Meghalaya pensioner life certificate
-  SarathiParivahan
-  Utkarsh Bangla
-  ePrisons
- v. The face authentication used in UIDAI is different from the facial recognition system as  the  face  authentication  utilizes  one-to-one  face  matching  for  authentication  after obtaining  the  consent  of  the  individual.  UIDAI  had  provided  the  modality  of  face authentication of Aadhaar number holders on PoC basis to National Health Authority, Department  of  Pension  &  Pensioners  Welfare  for  Jeevan  Pramaan  application,  and CeG, Karnataka. Vide circular dated 03.06.2022, it was rolled out for all Authentication User Agencies (AUA).
- vi. Facial recognition system is being used for identifying the applicant during contactless Learner License Test in Sarathi application. The FRT is facilitated by NIC AI Division.

(b) and (c): No, Sir. Government is not aware of any cases where the FRT technology has been  misused  for  malicious  purposes.    Government  has  notified  the  establishment  of  3 Grievance Apellate Committees under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 with an objective to ensure safety and trust of every Digital Nagrik.

(d) to (f): There is no reliable information regarding inaccuracy of the FRT technology. As per  NIC  AI  Division,  which  is  providing  the  FRT  technology  used  in  Sarathi  system,  the accuracy  rate  is  99.9%.  As  regards  vehicle  recognition,  ANPR  (Automatic  Number  Place Recognition)  system  is  used  by  external  agencies  authorized  by  State  Police/  Transport Authorities for identification of traffic violations, which are converted into traffic challans/ notices by MoRTH/ NIC eChallan system.

(g): Use  of  FRT  is  presently  regulated  and  governed  by  the  provisions  of  Information Technology Act 2000.  'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects and the responsibilities to  maintain  law  and  order  including  investigation  and  prosecution  of  crime  rests  with  the respective  State  Governments.    There  have  been  no  reports  with  regard  of  any  misuse  of FRT.

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