Lucknow police's AI-camera tracking of 'distressed women': Details & its challenges

As the Uttar Pradesh government promotes its 'Mission Shakti' campaign to tackle crime against women, the latest move by Lucknow police- to use 'AI cameras to track women's distress' has raised several eyebrows. Addressing the Aashi: Abhay and Abhyudaya" workshop in Lucknow, the city commissioner D K Thakur announced that the police have decided to equip public places with AI-enabled cameras to pick up pictures of women in distress and alert the nearest police station 'based on their facial expressions'. Apart from this, he also said that 31 'pink booths', managed by women, have been established across the city and UP police's 'Women Power Line' - 1090 has been launched.

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What does Lucknow police's 'AI to track women' entail?

Lucknow Commissioner DK Thakur on January 20, said "We have identified 200 hotspots where the movement of girls is maximum and from where most of the complaints are received. We will set up five AI-based cameras which will be equipped to sending an alert to the nearest police station. These cameras will become active as soon as a woman's expression changes to that of distress. Before she dials 100 or 112 for help, an alert would reach the police," while addressing women at Lucknow university's Tilak hostel as part of an event. He added that Lucknow had been chosen to be developed as a 'safe city'.

This move has immediately been challenged by Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) who has filed an RTI asking Lucknow police to provide them with more information on the project. IFF has raised the security concerns of such data, the invasion of privacy, and the legality of such a move. UP government has passed several such laws like the anti-conversion 'Love Jihad', 'Public Property damages recovery' whose constitutionality and legality have been challenged.

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IFF has asked Lucknow police: 

• If any legal opinion was sought prior to procurement of AI-based cameras for expression tracking
• Cost-benefit analysis, feasibility study or privacy impact assessment conducted
• Policy, rules, SOP of governing the use of Ai-based cameras
• The specific purpose for which cameras will be used
• Total expenditure incurred
• Tender issued for procurement of the cameras
• List of persons/organisations authorized to operate the cameras
• Software and hardware details used for facial recognition
• Database details in which images will be stored, people who will have access to images
• Accuracy of the AI-enabled cameras with expression tracking

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UP's mission shakti

Lucknow police's new move to 'ensure women safety' comes under CM Yogi Adityanath's 6-month long women empowerment campaign ‘Mission Shakti’ to raise awareness and tackle crime against women in the state. Flagging off the campaign at raj Bhawan, Adityanath said different awareness and training programs will be conducted regarding various schemes for the protection, respect, and self-reliance of women and girls. He also promised to appoint women nodal officers in all 75 districts of the state. Adityanath had also announced the 'Love Jihad' law under the umbrella of the 'Mission Shakti' - which has now been passed as an ordinance. Such similar laws to protect women have been passed by Andhra Pradesh as the 'Disha Act' and Maharashtra 'Shakti Act' - which is currently in review.

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