India plans to adopt China-style facial recognition in policing

India is planning to set up one of the world’s largest facial recognition systems, potentially a lucrative opportunity for surveillance companies and a nightmare for privacy advocates who fear it will lead to an Orwellian state.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will open bids next month to build a system to centralise facial recognition data captured through surveillance cameras across India. It would link up with databases containing records for everything from passports to fingerprints to help India’s depleted police force identify criminals, missing people and dead bodies.
 
The government says the move is designed to help one of the world’s most understaffed police forces, which has one officer for every 724 citizens – well below global norms. It also could be a boon for companies: TechSci Research estimates India’s facial recognition market will grow sixfold by 2024 to US$4.3 billion, nearly on par with China.

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