LEGAL TANGLES

The proposed system has no legal backing, claims Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), a non-profit in Delhi, which has recently issued notices to the Union home ministry and NCRB over the legality of the system

IFF's notice draws strength from the Supreme Court verdict in August 2017. While hearing the Justice K S Puttaswamy (Retd) and Anr v Union of India and Ors case, the Supreme Court had said that privacy constitutes a fundamental right under the Article 21 of Indian Constitution which ensures "right to life and personal liberty". It added that any interference in an individual’s privacy by the state should be done only in a manner that is “fair, just and reasonable”. It explained that states can interfere with an individual’s privacy only if: it is supported by law; pursues a legitimate state aim; and is proportional to the objective.

The Information Technology Act, 2000, which classifies biometric data as a type of sensitive personal data, also has rules for the collection, disclosure and sharing of such information. The checks mentioned in the Act cover only “body corporates” and do not apply to the government’s use of biometric facial data.

The proposed surveillance system is also a disproportionate response as it requires the deployment of facial recognition technology on large segments of the population without their consent. In a similar precedent, while rejecting the justification of countering black money as the basis for mandatory linkage of Aadhaar with bank accounts, the Supreme Court had noted that imposing such a