CIC directs Delhi Police to disclose accurate information on facial-recognition technology

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has chided the Delhi Police for giving ''patently incorrect'' replies to RTI queries on the usage of face-detection technology by it, saying the responses suffer from ''legal infirmities'' and indicate ''no application of mind''.

The commission directed the Delhi Police to furnish revised responses to the RTI applications seeking to know about its use of face-detection technology in investigations, the accuracy rate of the technology, the database referred for comparison and if it was used in probing the northeast Delhi riots, among other cases.

The case pertains to three RTI applications filed by Anuskha Jain, who sought to know about the use of the technology in the investigation of cases and traffic management by the police.

The Delhi Police denied information citing a section from the Right to Information (RTI) Act that exempts disclosure of records related to commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party.

''In view of the patently incorrect application of the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005 by the respondent public authority (Delhi Police) in all the instant cases, the PIO is warned to be careful in handling RTI applications in future,'' Chief Information Commissioner Y K Sinha said in his ruling.

''...the provision of section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act, 2005 should not have been invoked to deny information as it is not likely to adversely impact the competitive position of a third party. Thus, the replies given by the PIO and incorrectly upheld by the FAA's order suffer from legal infirmities and indicate no application of mind by either the PIO or the FAA,'' Sinha said.

Jain had also sought to know from the police if any privacy impact assessment was done before it started using the technology.

In her application related to the use of the technology in traffic management and enforcement by the Delhi Police, the applicant had asked about the legislative framework, rules, guidelines, or policies governing the use of the intelligent traffic management system, the total number of CCTV cameras installed, the locations of these cameras, signboards informing people that they are being filmed and the funds spent.

She also wanted to know if the data and the metadata collected by the CCTV cameras or similar video-recording devices are encrypted while at rest and during the course of transmission, the brand names and models of the CCTV cameras, and the names of individuals and organizations authorized to get access to the data of the intelligent traffic management system under the scheme.

In a separate RTI application, Jain had also asked if the facial-recognition technology was used in probing the 750 cases related to the northeast Delhi riots, about the IPC and CrPC sections under which the data would be made admissible in a court, the referral database and if it was used in cases other than the February 2020 riots.

''...denial of information citing the provision of section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act, 2005 is untenable and set aside accordingly,'' Sinha said.

He directed the police to send revised responses, furnishing accurate information under the correct provisions of the RTI Act.

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