Bids for India’s national biometric facial recognition system pushed back for tenth time

Bids from biometrics providers for India’s Automated Facial Recognition System were expected to received by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on August 6, but have been delayed for the tenth time, MediaNama reports. Bids are now due August 27.

The extension is blamed on “administrative reasons,” and comes weeks after the NCRB clarified the eligibility requirements in response to questions from potential bidders.

The project initially involved hooking up a real-time facial recognition capability to an extensive CCTV network, but the CCTV deployment is specifically ruled out in revised tender documents that accompanied the ninth deadline change in June. MediaNama reports however that new searchable attributes, in the form of biographic data and physical characteristics, have been added to the tender requirements.

The system is also now required to work with state systems, such as police apps.

MediaNama also suggests that the legal basis for deploying the biometric system is a cabinet approval decision from 2009, before the establishment of Indian’s right to privacy by a court decision.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  India  |  police  |  rfp  |  video surveillance