India’s Rush for Facial Recognition Adoption to Gain Technological Supremacy

The human face is key to a wide range of communication and conveyance. It can easily depict health, emotions, and intentions of a person. Therefore, technological advancements are taking facial recognition methods and techniques into account. AI-powered facial recognition technology is rapidly flourishing its market across nations.

Reportedly, the global market of facial recognition technology is likely to grow from $3.2 billion in 2019 to $7 billion by 2024 at a CAGR of 16.6 percent during the forecast period. The significant driving forces for accelerating fondness of this technology are surveillance usage, increase in government deployment, adoption across various industries and sectors for business outputs.

Interestingly, in India, the face recognition and authentication software market is expected to grow from $700 million in 2018 to $4,336 million by 2024 at a CAGR of 35.9 percent. The growth can be attributed to the increase of the technology adoption across banking and financial sector. Also, face matching software embracement in smartphones is empowering its vendors and market as a whole.

Recent Developments in Facial Recognition Adoption Across India

The Delhi airport has rolled out a 3-month trial to demonstrate a Biometric Seamless Travel Experience (BEST) system based on facial recognition technology. Beginning with the T3 airport, passengers' entry will be automatically processed at all checkpoints including airport entry, entry for security checks and boarding the aircraft. Passengers' enrolment process with valid identity proof and flight tickets will start at the registration kiosk where facial details will be captured by the camera. Following this, passengers can approach the boarding gate which is also fitted with a camera. The e-gates will open automatically after the recognition process.

Similarly, Bengaluru airport is also testing the efficiency of facial recognition and authentication technology to make work easier.

Additionally, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has released a request proposal for automated facial recognition system (AFRS). The system can be used by police officers across the country. Law enforcement agencies will use AFRS to identify missing persons, criminals, and unidentified dead bodies. According to NCRB, the system will capture the images from CCTV footage and generate alerts if a blacklisted person is found.

Is India Prepared for Facial Recognition?

Even if the zeal and zest for facial recognition technology adoption is at its peak, absence of any sort of data protection and privacy law in India turns the country ill-prepared for the transformation due to its inability to tackle data misuse. Some experts have said that there is no proper legal mechanism to stop the risks of facial recognition technology in India. In fact, the IT act doesn't specifically deal with the misuse of this technology. The lack of any blanket to ban the use of technology makes it even worse. In such a situation, anybody in the country can take advantage of loopholes in the legal consequences without fearing it. Therefore, in order to adopt the technology for the greater good, it is necessary to revise and modify the legal mechanism in the country first.