After EC intervention, NICSI cancels tender for ‘facial recognition of voters’

NICSI, a company under the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, had on December 7 called for bids for “empanelment of agencies to provide surveillance and monitoring services” to be used during elections.

The scope of work included equipment for video surveillance through flying squad vehicles, drone-mounted video surveillance and “face recognition system” for “facial recognition of voters”. The tender document asked for software with artificial intelligence features that can give a “voter’s queue head count” and “EVM monitoring and malpractice alert”.

“The Election Commission has issued instructions, from time to time, on various measures to keep a watch on the polling process at polling stations, to ensure conduct of free and fair elections. These measures include use of micro-observers, video cameras, still cameras and live

Webcasting… Web casting simply means live streaming of video on the internet. The primary objective is to have a control and deterrent on the field through live monitoring, especially in sensitive polling stations,” the tender document said.

According to EC sources, the matter came to light Friday and the NIC was asked to cancel the tender within minutes. In the cancellation notice, NICSI cited “administrative reason” for the decision. While the EC has issued guidelines for webcasting of the voting process, the use of facial recognition technology is not a part of it. The offices of state Chief Electoral Officers usually float tenders to organise the webcasting, but a few CEOs had requested NIC to float the tender on its behalf, leading to the tender in question, an EC source said.

Notably, the NICSI has opened the technical bids, carried out the technical evaluation of bidders and was in the process of opening financial bids.

Association welcomes it, seeks probe

The Internet Freedom Foundation had written to the EC, as well as NIC director general Amit Agrawal and Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Wednesday expressing concern over the use of facial recognition technology and drones during the elections.

“We believe that the use of FRT and drones for surveillance during election processes gravely injures the right of privacy of voters, and hampers the conduct of fair democratic elections. At the outset, we submit to the ECI and NIC that the proposed use of monitoring and surveillance technologies is antithetical to a free and fair election. The extensive deployment of video surveillance equipment will hurt individual fundamental rights, notably the right to privacy and dignity,” IFF executive director Prateek Waghre wrote.

Waghre told The Indian Express that the decision to withdraw the tender was a “positive step”. “However, there needs to be an investigation to understand how and why a tender with such far-reaching implications for citizens’ ability to vote freely and without fear was put out in the first place. Ultimately, neither the ECI nor NIC should undertake any steps that result in unwarranted and biometric surveillance of voters,” Waghre said.