Context

Face recognition technology calls for a more comprehensive domestic framework that promotes the use of new technologies for the public good as well as imposes necessary constraints against their abuse.

Debate on finding the balance between regulation and promotion

• Google calls for partial ban: TheGoogle CEO’s recent support for a temporary ban on facial recognition technologies seems uncharacteristic.
  • It is not often that companies developing a technology call for its ban.
  • Their interest is in promoting the use of technology, not proscribing it.
  • Not every one of the leading tech companies agrees with Google on facial recognition.
• Microsoft against the ban: Microsoft has questioned the idea of a ban. Calling facial recognition a “young technology”, it said “it will get better.
  • To get better the technology has to be used: The only way to make it better is actually to continue developing it.
  • And the only way to continue developing it actually is to have more people using it.
• IBM’s precision regulation: IBM has taken a step forward in developing the policies for the use of technology by setting up a “lab”.
  • The lab will generate actionable ideas for policymakers to manage the emergence of new technologies like facial recognition that are shaping our digital future.
  • Precision regulation vs. complete ban: The idea is to develop “precision regulation” rather than enforce “blunt” instruments like the ban.
• The EU’s plans for temporary ban: The debate on finding the right balance between regulation and promotion of emerging technologies comes in the wake of leaked plans of the EU to issue a temporary ban.
  • The ban could be up to five years.
  • Ban on use in public places only: The proposed ban is not a comprehensive one and will be applicable to the use of facial recognition in public spaces.
• India’s own plans for law enforcement agencies: The intensifying global debate also coincides with India’s own plans to roll out a massive project on deploying facial recognition technologies, essentially for law enforcement.
  • The international discourse provides the context for developing a broad and effective Indian policy framework for the use of facial recognition.

Background of the backlash against the tech companies

• Techlash: Well before the EU had begun to discuss a temporary ban on facial recognition, there has been a “techlash” against the companies.
  • The companies faced backlash because they have so dramatically altered our lives in the last few years.
• The idea of “digital is different”: For nearly two decades, the idea that “digital is different” and does not need public oversight had triumphed in most capitals of the world.
• Problems with regulations: The main argument was that regulation constrains technological innovation and retards progress.
• AI and Big data:  The urge to regulate has triggered widespread concerns about the dangers of digitalisation, especially the use of big data and AI by private companies as well as governments.

Major concerns against facial recognition

• Surveillance capitalism and surveillance state: The companies were seen as monetising the data generated by the widespread use of digital platforms like Google and Facebook.
  • Surveillance state:  China became the prime example of states using data and information to exercise ever more control over its citizens.
• Accuracy: At the other end are concerns that facial recognition is not entirely accurate and could lead to punitive actions against innocent people.
• Racial bias misogyny: There is also a concern in the US that the algorithms behind facial recognition carry the baggage of racism and misogyny.
• Concerns in India: It also remains a fact that the Indian state has always been tempted to empower itself against its citizens in the name of collective security.
  • It has also tended to weaponise information against political opponents and dissidents.

Potential Advantages

• In the control of crime.
• Better border controls and countering terrorism.
• Aid the Police: In India, a severely under-policed nation, facial recognition surely offers many benefits.

Conclusion

The foreign office must reclaim India’s place in the international discourse on AI and facial recognition and develop a productive alignment between India’s national interests and the development of new digital norms.

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