New Delhi : The Supreme Court agreed to hear the plea regarding the alleged use of facial recognition technology. The questions were raised by Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament A.A. Rahim, who approached the Supreme Court for the same. This is for those against those who participated in the Cockroach Janta Party-linked protests over the NEET-UG exam paper leaks.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant addressed senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy and advocate Subhash Chandran that Mr. Rahim’s petition would be tagged with the main NEET-UG protest petitions, which have questioned the police crackdown on students and the use of pellet guns.
The plea described the practice as “biometric surveillance” and claimed it was carried out without any law or official order authorising it.
It has also been alleged in the plea that the collected information was stored on servers operated by private companies, raising concerns over who could access it and how it might be used.
The MP also said that the use of facial recognition technology on peaceful protesters was unconstitutional.
“One maps your face, and the other is a vehicle. So spectacles are used, and a vehicle is also used. And that data is all taken without permission,” Senior Advocate Dr Menaka Guruswamy told the court. The lawyer argued that private entities hosting the information violated the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
The plea also said that the surveillance took place through the acquisition of videos and photographs through CCTV cameras, drones, a mobile command and control vehicle and hand-held devices.
The petition has sought disclosure and also that the affected people must be allowed to access and seek deletion of their biometric information.
The Gen-Z protest took place in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar due to NEET paper leaks, which led to the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
