Large number of Indians pliant to utilization of facial recognition tech, says survey
08 April, 2020
Concerns about facial recognition technology being used for surveillance have already been expressed world over, but most Indians appear to be amenable to its use for various uses including by state authorities, a survey has found.
Over three-fourths of 1 1,000 persons surveyed said they support the consumption of facial recognition for law enforcement, cybersecurity firm Nortonlifelock said.
Fears about emergence of surveillance states are being expressed because facial recognition software can establish the identity of a person caught on camera, using data bases and algorithms, and make subsequent profiling easier.
The survey said 74 % of these surveyed are fine with the technology being found in schools and 69 % are fine with retailers deploying it, and added that nearly three-fourths believe the technology will improve services and products.
Interestingly, the survey also discovered that 58 % of the respondents believe that facial recognition is going to be abused or misused within the next year, and almost half of them feel it will do more harm than good.
Public health concerns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have given legitimacy to the application of such invasive technology. But professionals have needed withdrawal of such measures following the pandemic ends.
Over 80 % of these polled want businesses and the government to reveal where or if they resort to using facial recognition, the survey said.
Indians are more alarmed about their privacy than those far away, as there have been reports of sensitive private information for sale to third parties or exposed in data breaches and compromised by cyber criminals, the survey found.
While the report shows that Indians have greater concern about the misuse of personal information in comparison to citizens of other countries, in addition, it reveals they are complacent about sharing their data if they get something in return, Nortonlifelock country director Ritesh Chopra said.
Nearly 40 per cent of the respondents said they experienced identity theft and 10 per cent of these reported being impacted this past year alone, the survey said.
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