We missed this earlier: The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) issued yet another tender for an Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) last month. The AFRS, which has been in the works since 2019, may now include newer capabilities of recognising individuals with face masks on, integration with state FRT systems, etc., and other new bidder requirements, according to the tender which has been reviewed by MediaNama. The NCRB is responsible for collecting and analysing criminal data which is subsequently used by Indian police. On October 26, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) and other non-vendor stakeholders were asked to leave a pre-bid meeting on the AFRS tender by the NCRB. Pre-bid meetings take place to consult with interested bidders on questions and concerns that they may have on the bid document. The Indian government is increasingly looking to deploy facial recognition for authentication, including at exam centers and even for vaccine delivery. However, civil rights bodies have argued that facial recognition systems can lead to the wrongful penalisation of individuals due to low or faulty accuracy rates. Not to mention that India does not have a data protection or privacy law in place yet. Read MediaNama's in-depth coverage of the older version of the tender document. What are the differences between the two bids? Here are some of the key differences- Bypassing face masks: The latest version requires the AFRS to be able to bypass face masks. The system shall provide matching functions on images/visuals of modified facial features like, plastic surgery, aged…
