Lucknow Police Deploying AI Cameras to Recognise Facial Expressions of Women in Distress and Alert Officers
Experts have raised concerns over the latest move by the Lucknow police.
By Jagmeet Singh | Updated: 21 January 2021 14:07 IST
Photo Credit: Pexels
Lucknow police is initially deploying five AI-enabled cameras to start detecting women in distress
HIGHLIGHTS
Lucknow Police Commissioner Dhruv Kumar Thakur told the media on Wednesday that the police department had identified 200 hotspots where the movement of women was maximum in the city and from where most of the complaints were received. The police will initially deploy five AI-based cameras to recognise the expression of women citizens.
The facial recognition technology is touted to alert the nearest police station of women in distress even before they dialled the police helpline. It will activate the cameras upon detecting facial expressions of women and trigger the system to notify the police.
However, technology policy experts and researchers aren't pleased by the new move of the Lucknow police.
Anupam Guha, Assistant Professor at the Centre for Policy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, took to Twitter to express his dissent. He noted that the recording of facial expressions using security cameras could be wrong-headed and potentially harmful.
Similar to Guha, Anushka Jain, Associate Counsel (Transparency and Right to Information) at non-profit Internet Freedom Foundation, told Gadgets 360 that the new project could lead to unnecessary harassment by the police and situation of over-policing in the areas where emotion-tracking is being deployed.
“We don't know what expressions they are tracking and how accurate the system of tracking these expressions is,” she said. “Also, it's not necessary that a person who's making an expression of anger or distress is actually being harassed in a manner wherein police intervention is needed. I could be talking to a friend, and I could get upset over something. And that could also trigger the cameras.”
Jain is working on an initiative called Project Panoptic under which she's tracking the deployment of facial recognition technology by various government departments in the country.
“We've already been tracking the use of facial recognition by the Lucknow police. And now, the latest announcement is something with which they've taken it a step further,” she said.
One of the other key concerns by experts is whether the cameras are accessed by certain police officers or all police personnel. The police department has also not provided any clarity on the involvement of third parties that could further raise concerns over data privacy.
Further reading: Lucknow Police, Facial Recognition Technology, Emotion Tracking, Lucknow, FRT, Facial Recognition
Jagmeet SinghEmail JagmeetJagmeet Singh writes about consumer technology for Gadgets 360, out of New Delhi. Jagmeet is a senior reporter for Gadgets 360, and has frequently written about apps, computer security, Internet services, and telecom developments. Jagmeet is available on Twitter at @JagmeetS13 or Email at jagmeets@ndtv.com. Please send in your leads and tips.
Experts have raised concerns over the latest move by the Lucknow police.
By Jagmeet Singh | Updated: 21 January 2021 14:07 IST
Photo Credit: Pexels
Lucknow police is initially deploying five AI-enabled cameras to start detecting women in distress
HIGHLIGHTS
- Lucknow police is deploying AI cameras to understand facial expressions
- Experts say the move could be so harmful for the citizens
- Lucknow police has not defined which expressions will be detected
Lucknow Police Commissioner Dhruv Kumar Thakur told the media on Wednesday that the police department had identified 200 hotspots where the movement of women was maximum in the city and from where most of the complaints were received. The police will initially deploy five AI-based cameras to recognise the expression of women citizens.
The facial recognition technology is touted to alert the nearest police station of women in distress even before they dialled the police helpline. It will activate the cameras upon detecting facial expressions of women and trigger the system to notify the police.
However, technology policy experts and researchers aren't pleased by the new move of the Lucknow police.
Anupam Guha, Assistant Professor at the Centre for Policy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, took to Twitter to express his dissent. He noted that the recording of facial expressions using security cameras could be wrong-headed and potentially harmful.
Similar to Guha, Anushka Jain, Associate Counsel (Transparency and Right to Information) at non-profit Internet Freedom Foundation, told Gadgets 360 that the new project could lead to unnecessary harassment by the police and situation of over-policing in the areas where emotion-tracking is being deployed.
“We don't know what expressions they are tracking and how accurate the system of tracking these expressions is,” she said. “Also, it's not necessary that a person who's making an expression of anger or distress is actually being harassed in a manner wherein police intervention is needed. I could be talking to a friend, and I could get upset over something. And that could also trigger the cameras.”
Jain is working on an initiative called Project Panoptic under which she's tracking the deployment of facial recognition technology by various government departments in the country.
“We've already been tracking the use of facial recognition by the Lucknow police. And now, the latest announcement is something with which they've taken it a step further,” she said.
One of the other key concerns by experts is whether the cameras are accessed by certain police officers or all police personnel. The police department has also not provided any clarity on the involvement of third parties that could further raise concerns over data privacy.
Further reading: Lucknow Police, Facial Recognition Technology, Emotion Tracking, Lucknow, FRT, Facial Recognition
Jagmeet SinghEmail JagmeetJagmeet Singh writes about consumer technology for Gadgets 360, out of New Delhi. Jagmeet is a senior reporter for Gadgets 360, and has frequently written about apps, computer security, Internet services, and telecom developments. Jagmeet is available on Twitter at @JagmeetS13 or Email at jagmeets@ndtv.com. Please send in your leads and tips.
