TMC MP Saket Gokhale | Image Source: X

New Delhi: Former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Saket Gokhale has asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) and other agencies such as Aadhaar, the Income Tax Department, etc if they shared their database with Delhi Police to be used for facial recognition during the students' protest at Jantar Mantar last month. Mr Gokhale said that in a Right To Information (RTI) reply to his query in 2020, the ECI had admitted that it had shared the entire voter list with photos with Delhi Police during the Delhi riots investigation.

In a post on X, Gokhale said that Delhi Police has admitted in the Supreme Court that facial recognition technology was deployed during the Jantar Mantar protests. “Now for facial recognition to make a `match’, there needs to be an underlying database of photos and details of citizens. So where did Delhi Police get that database from?"  Gokhale questioned.
"In response to an RTI of mine in 2020, the Election Commission admitted that it had shared the entire voter list with photos with Delhi Police during the Delhi riots investigation. Interestingly, ECI’s own rules prohibit sharing of photo electoral rolls with any agency. And yet, the ECI broke its own rules in 2020 and handed over the data to Delhi Police. Therefore, did ECI supply voter lists with photos to Delhi Police for their facial recognition database during Jantar Mantar protests? What other agencies (Aadhaar, Income Tax Department, Transport Dept, etc.) have shared their database with Delhi Police to be used for facial recognition?” asked r Gokhale.
He further said that if no agency has provided any data, how is Delhi Police managing to conduct facial recognition on everyone, and not just those with a criminal record, during the protests?
“There’s a reason that the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act has not yet been fully notified despite being passed by Parliament three years ago in August 2023. It’s two simple questions really: Will the Delhi Police disclose what database it is using for facial recognition? Will ECI and other bodies confirm whether they are still providing photo databases to Delhi Police?” Mr Gokhale said.
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