FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY

About:

• Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) is a biometric technology for identifying a person by analysing the characteristics of a person’s face images taken with a digital camera.
  
  
• Working: The mathematical algorithms of FRT follow following stages of image processing:
  • Capture: The first step is to capture the image by using cameras or by scanning existing images.
    
    
  • Extraction: Unique facial data is then extracted from the sample.
    
    
  • Comparison: The data is then compared with the database.
    
    
  • Matching: The software then decides whether the sample matches any picture in the database or not.
    
    
  • Application and benefits:
    • It greatly improves security measures. Anyone who doesn’t have access or permission to a corporation’s premises will be captured by the FRT that sends alerts you instantly about the trespassing.
      
      
    • It is already being used for examination, investigation, and monitoring by Governments all over the world to identify potential and current threats.
      
      
    • There are a lot of social media apps which increase a user experience with FRT.
      
      
    • There is even a progressive adaptation of FRT in medical applications.
      
      
    
    
    
  
  
  
• Concerns:
  • Factors such as illumination, expression and pose during face capture can affect the performance of FRT. Low-resolution face images are also very hard to recognize.
    
    
  • High quality images require huge data storage capacity.
    
    
  • There are also concerns related to privacy. FRT can be used to unearth other personal data associated with an individual.
    
    
  
  
  

Roll out in India:

• Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has announced the phased roll-out of face recognition feature as an additional mode of authentication. UIDAI had earlier planned to roll-out face recognition feature from July 1, a target that was later pushed to August 1.
  
  
• Telecom Service providers (TSPs) will start implementing the system from September 15, 2018. For authentication agencies other than TSPs, specific instructions will be issued later on.
  
  
• UIDAI also announced that ‘live face photo’ capture and its verification with the photo obtained in eKYC will be essential in those cases where Aadhaar is used for issuance of mobile SIMs.