Government Approval of Artificial Facial Recognition System

The Ministry of Home Affairs has given its approval for the use of Artificial Facial Recognition System (AFRS) for identification of missing children, unrecognised corpses and criminals.

• AFRS:

The AFRS is to be an application for identification and verification of target individuals by comparing images from CCTV footage with an existing database. This is to be used for identification of missing children, criminals and also unrecognised dead bodies.

• CCTNS:

CCTNS or Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System is a national integrated database maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau. It contains data about criminal incidents, FIR registrations, suspects, investigations and charge-sheets from across the country. The AFRS is to be linked to the CCTNS.

• Artificial Neural Networks:

The facial recognition function of the system is to be performed by artificial intelligence technology called ‘artificial neural networks’ or ‘connectionist systems’. It is a computer system inspired by biological neural networks and performs pattern-finding and matching functions.