HYDERABAD: Various Twitter handles of Hyderabad City police have deleted posts of officers conducting mass facial recognition scans (FRS), after a city-based privacy researcher questioned the legality of the practice. The Twitter accounts of Chilkalguda PS, SHO Chilkalguda, and Falaknuma PS, SHO Falaknuma, removed tweets showing their officers taking photos of citizens and running them against a criminal database.
This after, an independent security researcher, Srinivas Kodali, in a series of tweets, asked Hyderabad CP Anjani Kumar to provide details of the law or the guidelines under which the operations were/being undertaken. When Express contacted the officials concerned, they declined any comment.
One of the deleted posts from the SHO Chilkaguda’s account, said: “Checked FRS and C-Dot by PAtro Car II staff of PS Chilkalguda.” Another post which was deleted from SHO Falaknuma’s account stated that after receiving instructions from senior officials, the SHO Falaknuma had instructed all patrol officers to check suspected persons via FRS and Fingerprint Application of the city police’s TSCOP App to catch offenders.
Speaking to Express, Kodali said, “The police deleted the tweets because they did not want citizens to know about their illegal policing. This is surveillance without law. The Supreme Court, in its Right to Privacy judgement, states that surveillance cannot be done without a law,” he said.
Photos not from heritage sites: CP
After privacy activist alleged police surveillance at heritage sites like Qutub Shahi Tombs, Hyd CP Anjani Kumar denied the claims and tweeted, “At no historical place photographs of the tourists/visitors are captured by us. Tourists of Hyderabad city can ignore the above tweet and enjoy their visits freely.”