5.6 lakh CCTVs watch over Hyderabad
Next only to Chennai as ‘most surveilled’ city in the world; digital rights activists, privacy experts raise red flags
Citizens’ privacy in the city has gone for a toss as the Telangana state government, over the past few years, has established different kinds of technologies to expand and intensify surveillance across the state in the garb of digital governance. This has led to mass-installation of CCTV cameras, AI-based solutions, facial recognition (FR) and many more such tech-initiatives.
The state has over 8 lakh CC cameras functional via Nenu Saitham, community policing and other initiatives. The city, including its commissionerates of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda, has over 5.6 lakh CC cameras.
Earlier this year, a study called ‘The Top Surveillance Cities Worldwide’, conducted by Surfshark and published in the South Asia Journal stated Hyderabad has 480 CCTVs per sq-km and 30 for every 1,000 people. This number is second only to Chennai which was adjudged as the “most surveilled” city in the world.
Digital rights activists and privacy experts here say that it’s easier for the government to collect data of all the residents. Back in 2017, then city police commissioner Mahender Reddy IPS, who is the now state DGP, stated that the police have compiled a comprehensive database of the people in the city and a similar project will be implemented across the state.
Known as the Integrated People Information Hub (IPIH), it can offer a ‘360 degree view’ of every citizen, the official had said.
“The database is sourced from police records including information on arrested people, offenders’ lists, missing person reports, FIRs, case diaries as well as from external sources like phone/power/water connections, tax payments, voter IDs, RTA licences, registration data, e-challans, passports and terrorist records.
The data is combined and indexed by an Identity Resolution Engine (IRE) to figure out the identity of a person. This is then made available to the authorities. Various departments have been using this to identify and remove duplicate ration cards, identify tax defaulters, compare scholarship data and so on.
There are offenders who give different names and addresses when arrested for different crimes. But the IRE engine mines through the data and collects common points and gives a complete profile of the person from various data sources, along with previous offence details and even the family tree,” said an official.
This kind of database of a city or even a state can be a great tool for the government and various authorities.
People here say they have got used to the idea of being watched by these cameras and hence feel safe. “We are constantly under watch and though it feels morally wrong, it’s better for prevention of crime. We see how easily they detect kidnap cases and arrest absconding perpetrators via effective use of technology,” said Akhil Kumar, a resident of Malkajgiri working at an MNC.
RTI activist Srinivas Kodali, a researcher working on data, governance and internet, said “facial recognition software has been collecting data. This apart, the Hawk Eye mobile application, which is run by the Hyderabad IT Cell, has also been gathering details.”
“GHMC officials have been asked to give permissions to home owners only if they install CC cameras and link them with the police command. Cops have been tracking call data records and they started tracking people with it during Covid crisis. In a nutshell, they have data of everyone in the city and the state,” he said.
The Hawk Eye application, when installed, asks permission to connect and disconnect from WiFi, view network connection, have full network access, change network connectivity, prevent phone from sleeping, play/instal referrer API, view WiFi connection, receive data from internet, read Google service configuration, and full hardware access to phone memory.
There are about 14 lakh users of the Hawk Eye application in Telangana state, out of which 9 lakh are in Hyderabad alone, according to officials from the city police.
“The location access is asked for by the SOS service, which helps us send patrol teams and help those in trouble. The location is shared with the control room for further help,” explained an official, adding that it does not collect personal data.
“Hyderabad is one of the safest cities in the country because of the constant surveillance. It gives the citizens here a sense of safety and security. There is no gun culture here and people feel safe enough to move around the city even late at night. The constant crackdown with the help of technology has also kept the inter-state gangs at bay over the last few years,” said an official from the IT Cell.
Experts say that though the situation is not as severe like in authoritarian countries like China where the people are constantly watched, the emerging trend of more surveillance is a matter of concern as incidents in other countries offer adequate hints about the potential for abuse of this facility when the state constantly watches its citizens and collects all manners of data about their daily life.
“The firewalls and encryption will not be a big deal for hackers to access. This means there will be no clear liability in case there is a data breach that compromises with the data of all citizens in the state,” said a digital analyst from Madhapur.