In July, 2021, a press release by the Government of Meghalaya stated that facial recognition technology (FRT) would be used to verify the identity of pensioners to issue a Digital Life Certificate. On August 5, 2021, we provided support to Mr. Jade Jeremiah Lyngdoh, a law student, in sending a legal notice to the relevant authorities seeking reconsideration of such use of FRT in view of the possible privacy concerns. The Meghalaya Government by its response dated November 1, 2021 has explained its position. We welcome the department’s reply and believe that it encourages discussion and transparency around FRT, however, the reply suffers from various legal infirmities which we have analysed below.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://internetfreedom.in/the-use-of-frt-does-not-require-any-anchoring-legislation-the-meghalaya-government/