Iran’s authorities using NtechLab’s live facial recognition to crush dissent

Images of masked protestors emerging from Iran during the country’s recent brutal crackdown on dissent illustrate their fear of the public surveillance network operated by authorities, and its possible facial recognition capabilities.

Now, a joint investigation by journalists from several countries has revealed that Iran’s authorities have access to the FindFace facial recognition system developed by Russia-based NtechLab.

FindFace made headlines back in 2016 when it was marketed as a smartphone app allowing users to photograph and connect with strangers on social media although it quickly became a tool used to harass Russian sex workers. The facial recognition technology is offered as an API which has been integrated with smart glasses and security cameras at train stations in India. Over the years, NtechLab ranked among the facial recognition accuracy leaders in NIST evaluations, developed silhouette recognition and supplied software to many well-known companies in the Western hemisphere.

NtechLab’s technology was used and promoted during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Forbidden Stories reports that soon after, NtechLab licensed Iranian startup Rasad Intelligent Technologies, also known as Rasadco, as a “systems integration partner.” A financial and administrative merger in 2021 put the technology in the hands of company called Kama.

Iranian authorities announced in 2022 that they would use facial recognition in public places, ostensibly to enforce the country’s draconian laws on women’s clothing.

The country’s live facial recognition system not only identifies individuals based on their face biometrics, but is part of a larger platform that also connects them to their friends and family, sources told the outlet.

Former NtechLab CEO Alexey Minin explained the scale his company’s facial recognition works at and its efforts to build an international client base to Biometric Update in a 2019 interview.

Forbidden Stories investigated the deals in collaboration with Le Monde, Papertrail Media, Der Spiegel, ZDF and whistleblower support organization The Signals Network.

Kama is headed by member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IGRC), which was designated as a terrorist organization by the EU in January. Kama granted a license with no time limit to a third company called BPO in 2020 for 4 billion Iranian rials, which were then worth approximately €80,000 (approximately US$93,000).

BPO then licensed real-time facial recognition to Iranian authorities for almost 9 billion rials (now worth around $68,000). The contract is also signed by a shareholder of Zaeem Technology Development Company, which works with Iran’s  Ministries of Defense and Intelligence. Sources told Le Monde that BPO maybe a front company, and that shell companies are used to hide the details of such deals.

Reports emerged from Iran in 2023 that authorities had deployed live facial recognition in the subway system of Mashhad, the country’s second most populous city. Forbidden Stories reports the live facial recognition software was acquired for 3 billion rials (approximately €65,000 at the time).

The UN Independent International Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran reported last March that facial recognition had been installed at the entrance to Tehran’s Amirkabir University of Technology, Forbidden Stories notes.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometric matching  |  biometrics  |  Iran  |  live facial recognition  |  NTechlab  |  Russia