Amnesty International

IDEMIA

Staqu

Vision-Box

Innefu Labs

NEC India

To whom it may concern at {contact_data~organization}

I am writing to you because I am concerned about human rights abuse that could be brought about as a result of your business activities related to facial recognition for identification and mass surveillance.

FRTs threaten human rights. These technologies, as currently deployed by law enforcement agencies in India, are a mode of mass surveillance, and are a violation of the right to privacy. According to international human rights standards, and as laid out in the Supreme Court judgement Justice K.S. Puttaswamy vs Union of India, any interference with the right to privacy must always be legitimate, necessary and proportionate. FRT that scans and captures data from all faces within its radius is not necessary or proportionate in any circumstance.

In addition, FRTs significantly hamper the right to peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of expression. These are internationally recognized human rights that are guaranteed under international human rights law and the Constitution of India. As ample evidence from multiple countries including India shows, such use of facial recognition can create a chilling effect on freedom of expression and seriously harm the fundamental right to peaceful protest for the foreseeable future.

FRTs can also have a disproportionate impact on marginalized groups, undermining the right to equality and non-discrimination. Globally, the technology can and is being used by governments to intentionally target certain individuals or groups of people based on their protected characteristics, including ethnicity, race and gender. Even if this is not the stated aim of the technology, discriminatory impacts are nevertheless a huge risk and likelihood arising out of the use of this technology that can exacerbate and entrench existing societal disadvantages and further disempower already-marginalized groups of people.

The deployment of facial recognition technologies in India is happening unchecked without legal basis, technical and procedural safeguards, and in the absence of a robust data protection framework. Already, evidence is emerging wherein law enforcement authorities have used FRT in context of protests in India. Due to this, Amnesty International is calling for a ban on facial recognition systems for identification purposes.

Around the world, state authorities and companies, including Facebook, have recognized the harms posed by FRT systems. Equally, companies producing these technologies have been confronted with the very real human rights implications of engaging in this business. All companies have a responsibility to respect human rights, as set out in the globally-endorsed UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct issued by the Government of India.

In light of the information detailed in this letter, I am writing to ask that you take steps to immediately halt the sales of FRT systems to law enforcement agencies in India.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First name} {user_data~Last name}