The Hindu Editorial • August 22, 2026 • Read Original

Saving faces: On protests, biometric surveillance

Use of facial recognition equipment at protest sites is worrisome

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The Hindu Read Original

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Analysis of editorial from The Hindu newspaper on August 22, 2026

Saving faces: On protests, biometric surveillance

Use of facial recognition equipment at protest sites is worrisome

Science and Technology Facial Recognition TechnologyBiometric SurveillanceRight to PrivacyDelhi PoliceData ProtectionProportionality Test

Sentences

Sentence 1 of 13

English Original

India appears to be normalising the technical ability to subject political gatherings to searchable biometric surveillance without first having settled, through legislation and judicial oversight, the circumstances in which the state may lawfully do so.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

India appears to be the technical ability

India seems to be making it a routine practice to use technology

Part 2

to subject political gatherings to searchable

to scan and monitor crowds at political protests using facial recognition and identity databases

Part 3

without first having settled, through legislation and ,

without first establishing clear written laws passed by Parliament and supervision by courts,

Part 4

the circumstances in which the state may lawfully do so.

the specific conditions under which the government has the legal right to monitor citizens.

Sentence 2 of 13

English Original

While the Delhi Police have continued to deny the use of excessive force and manhandling people involved in the Cockroach Janta Party protests, contrary to protestors’ testimonies, facial recognition equipment was present at the protest site while the demonstrations were on.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

While the Delhi Police have continued to deny

Although the Delhi Police have repeatedly stated that they did not do anything wrong

Part 2

the use of excessive force and people involved in the Cockroach Janta Party protests,

using too much violence or rough physical treatment against people participating in the protests,

Part 3

contrary to protestors’ ,

which directly contradicts what the protesting citizens stated in their accounts,

Part 4

facial recognition equipment was present at the protest site

automated face-scanning camera systems were deployed at the location of the demonstration

Part 5

while the demonstrations were on.

during the entire time the public protests were taking place.

Sentence 3 of 13

English Original

According to its affidavit to the Supreme Court of India, the police deployed a facial recognition system (including Artificial Intelligence-enabled cameras to scan faces in real-time against a database), a mobile surveillance van and a command and control vehicle, smart spectacles for identifying individuals on the move, and drones and videographers; the van and the spectacles have been tied to private contractors.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

According to its to the Supreme Court of India,

Based on the formal sworn document that the police submitted to India’s highest court,

Part 2

the police a facial recognition system (including Artificial Intelligence-enabled cameras to scan faces in real-time against a database),

the police set up an automated facial scanning system using AI cameras that instantly match human faces against stored records,

Part 3

a mobile surveillance van and a command and control vehicle,

a movable monitoring van and a central operational control vehicle equipped with communication systems,

Part 4

smart spectacles for identifying individuals on the move, and drones and videographers;

high-tech glasses to recognize people walking in the crowd, along with flying camera drones and video operators;

Part 5

the van and the spectacles have been tied to private contractors.

the monitoring vehicle and the smart glasses were supplied and operated by private commercial companies.

Context and Background

Delhi Police Supreme Court Affidavit on Facial Recognition

In August 2026, the Delhi Police submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court defending their use of Facial Recognition Systems (FRS) during protests. The police claimed the deployment was a legitimate state measure aimed at targeted identification of individuals with past criminal records rather than mass profiling of peaceful demonstrators.

Sentence 4 of 13

English Original

The police have also not addressed whether actual biometric processing occurred with every individual within the range of cameras.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The police have also not

The police authorities have still not clarified or given an answer about

Part 2

whether actual biometric processing occurred

whether the digital face measurements of people were actually scanned and analyzed by computer algorithms

Part 3

with every individual within the range of cameras.

for every single person who was walking within the visible area of those surveillance cameras.

Sentence 5 of 13

English Original

Even if the police discarded the images associated with infructuous checks, that the data may have been accessible to private contractors, whose terms of engagement are unclear, is worrisome.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Even if the police discarded the images

Even if we assume that the police deleted all the photos

Part 2

associated with checks,

connected with face scans that did not find any criminal match or produce any result,

Part 3

that the data may have been accessible to private contractors,

the possibility that private commercial companies and their staff could see or handle this biometric data

Part 4

whose are unclear,

whose official contractual conditions, legal responsibilities, and data handling rules are not transparent,

Part 5

is .

is a matter of serious concern for citizen privacy and data security.

Sentence 6 of 13

English Original

However, no statute governs the use of facial recognition systems; the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, whose data-processing obligations are not yet in force, still makes broad exemptions for state agencies.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

However, no governs

However, there is no specific written parliamentary law that regulates or controls

Part 2

the use of facial recognition systems;

the operational deployment of face-matching automated technology by police;

Part 3

the Digital Personal Data Protection Act,

India’s landmark personal data protection legislation,

Part 4

whose data-processing obligations are not yet in force,

whose mandatory data handling rules and compliance requirements have not yet been fully implemented,

Part 5

still makes broad for state agencies.

still grants wide legal relief and exceptions to government and police organizations.

Context and Background

State Exemptions under the DPDP Act

The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, is India’s principal privacy legislation. Under Section 17, the Act empowers the Central Government to exempt state instrumentalities and law enforcement agencies from key data-processing obligations on grounds such as national security, public order, and the prevention or investigation of offences.

Sentence 7 of 13

English Original

The Automated Facial Recognition System of the National Crime Records Bureau can be used to identify criminals, unidentified bodies, and so on, and the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act 2022 expanded the set of records that the police may collect from specified persons.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The Automated Facial Recognition System of the National Crime Records Bureau

The centralized face-matching computer system operated by India’s National Crime Records Bureau

Part 2

can be used to identify criminals, bodies, and so on,

is legally permitted to match and find known offenders, unrecognized deceased bodies, and missing persons,

Part 3

and the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act 2022

and the parliamentary law passed in 2022 regarding criminal identification procedures

Part 4

expanded the set of records

broadened and increased the types of physical and biological measurements

Part 5

that the police may collect from specified persons.

that police officers are authorized to take from arrested, detained, or convicted individuals.

Context and Background

NCRB AFRS and the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) manages the Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) to match photographs against criminal databases. Meanwhile, the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022, replaced the colonial-era 1920 Identification of Prisoners Act, empowering police to collect extensive biometric measurements (such as iris, retinal scans, and physical signatures) from arrested or convicted persons for up to 75 years.

Sentence 8 of 13

English Original

However, these actions are still only allowed vis-à-vis specific groups of people.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

However, these actions are still only allowed

However, taking biometric measurements is legally permitted

Part 2

specific groups of people.

only in relation to clearly defined categories of individuals (such as convicts or formally arrested persons), not ordinary citizens.

Sentence 9 of 13

English Original

Irrespective of the constitutional validity of the police’s actions, the chilling effect on potential participants may also curtail the right to protest.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Irrespective of the constitutional validity of the police’s actions,

Regardless of whether the police’s surveillance measures are legally allowed under the Constitution or not,

Part 2

the on potential participants

the fear and discouragement created among ordinary citizens who might want to join the protest

Part 3

may also the right to protest.

can severely restrict and reduce people’s fundamental freedom to assemble peacefully and express dissent.

Sentence 10 of 13

English Original

The state has to pass a well-established proportionality test when interfering with the right to privacy.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The state has to pass

The government and police authorities are legally obligated to satisfy

Part 2

a well-established

a recognized constitutional standard ensuring that state actions are necessary, fair, and not excessive

Part 3

when interfering with the right to privacy.

whenever their surveillance actions intrude upon citizens’ fundamental right to personal privacy.

Context and Background

The Proportionality Test in Indian Privacy Law

In the landmark K.S. Puttaswamy judgment (2017), the Supreme Court recognized the right to privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21. It established a four-prong proportionality test requiring that any state interference must have statutory backing (legality), pursue a legitimate aim, be rationally suitable to that aim, use the least intrusive means (necessity), and properly balance public goals against individual rights.

Sentence 11 of 13

English Original

While the first question — the existence of a legitimate objective — already poses important challenges to facial recognition en masse, the technology is indiscriminate at the point of capture.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

While the first question — the existence of a legitimate objective —

Although the first legal requirement (whether the government has a valid and lawful goal) in the proportionality test

Part 2

already poses important challenges

already creates serious legal difficulties and doubts

Part 3

to facial recognition ,

for using automated facial recognition on entire crowds of people all at once,

Part 4

the technology is

the camera technology cannot differentiate between innocent protestors and criminals

Part 5

at the point of capture.

at the exact moment when the camera captures images of people in the crowd.

Sentence 12 of 13

English Original

After all, there is a less restrictive but equally effective alternative (e.g., conventional policing).

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

After all, there is

After considering everything, there clearly exists

Part 2

a less but equally effective alternative

another option that limits citizens’ rights far less while achieving the same security results

Part 3

(e.g., ).

(for example, traditional police patrolling, barricades, and visible security officers).

Sentence 13 of 13

English Original

At this time, far too many questions are unanswered — including over the data-processing agreements, access, legal provisions that authorised major decisions, and the expected rate of false positives — for the use of facial recognition with all protesters to be justified.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

At this time,

At the present moment,

Part 2

far too many questions are unanswered —

an excessively large number of serious doubts remain without clear answers (

Part 3

including over the data-processing agreements, access,

such as details about data contracts with private companies, who has permission to view the stored scans,

Part 4

legal provisions that authorised major decisions, and the expected rate of —

the specific sections of law that permitted these surveillance decisions, and how often the AI wrongly misidentifies innocent people)

Part 5

for the use of facial recognition with all protesters to be .

to make the mass deployment of facial recognition technology on every person at a protest legally and morally defensible.

Sentence 1 of 13

Sentences Breakdown

Editorial Summary

5-Point Summary

1 India is increasingly deploying searchable biometric and facial recognition surveillance at political protests without clear statutory authority or judicial oversight.
2 During recent demonstrations, Delhi Police used AI-enabled cameras, mobile surveillance vans, and smart spectacles tied to private contractors.
3 Existing data protection and criminal identification laws do not authorize mass, indiscriminate facial scanning of peaceful protesters.
4 Mass biometric surveillance threatens privacy and creates a severe chilling effect that can curtail citizens’ democratic right to protest.
5 The government must satisfy the constitutional proportionality test and rely on less restrictive alternatives rather than unchecked surveillance.

Tone of the Editorial

Critical

Why this tone?

The editorial criticizes the unchecked deployment of facial recognition and biometric surveillance at protest sites by law enforcement. Phrases such as “normalising”, “worrisome”, “chilling effect”, and “indiscriminate at the point of capture” reflect strong concern over state overreach and the absence of legislative safeguards.

Sentence 1 of 13

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

India appears to be normalising the technical ability

India seems to be making it a routine practice to use technology

Part 2

to subject political gatherings to searchable biometric surveillance

to scan and monitor crowds at political protests using facial recognition and identity databases

Part 3

without first having settled, through legislation and judicial oversight,

without first establishing clear written laws passed by Parliament and supervision by courts,

Part 4

the circumstances in which the state may lawfully do so.

the specific conditions under which the government has the legal right to monitor citizens.

Sentence 2 of 13

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

While the Delhi Police have continued to deny

Although the Delhi Police have repeatedly stated that they did not do anything wrong

Part 2

the use of excessive force and manhandling people involved in the Cockroach Janta Party protests,

using too much violence or rough physical treatment against people participating in the protests,

Part 3

contrary to protestors’ testimonies,

which directly contradicts what the protesting citizens stated in their accounts,

Part 4

facial recognition equipment was present at the protest site

automated face-scanning camera systems were deployed at the location of the demonstration

Part 5

while the demonstrations were on.

during the entire time the public protests were taking place.

Sentence 3 of 13

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

According to its affidavit to the Supreme Court of India,

Based on the formal sworn document that the police submitted to India’s highest court,

Part 2

the police deployed a facial recognition system (including Artificial Intelligence-enabled cameras to scan faces in real-time against a database),

the police set up an automated facial scanning system using AI cameras that instantly match human faces against stored records,

Part 3

a mobile surveillance van and a command and control vehicle,

a movable monitoring van and a central operational control vehicle equipped with communication systems,

Part 4

smart spectacles for identifying individuals on the move, and drones and videographers;

high-tech glasses to recognize people walking in the crowd, along with flying camera drones and video operators;

Part 5

the van and the spectacles have been tied to private contractors.

the monitoring vehicle and the smart glasses were supplied and operated by private commercial companies.

Sentence 4 of 13

The police have also not addressed whether actual biometric processing occurred with every individual within the range of cameras.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The police have also not addressed

The police authorities have still not clarified or given an answer about

Part 2

whether actual biometric processing occurred

whether the digital face measurements of people were actually scanned and analyzed by computer algorithms

Part 3

with every individual within the range of cameras.

for every single person who was walking within the visible area of those surveillance cameras.

Sentence 5 of 13

Even if the police discarded the images associated with infructuous checks, that the data may have been accessible to private contractors, whose terms of engagement are unclear, is worrisome.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Even if the police discarded the images

Even if we assume that the police deleted all the photos

Part 2

associated with infructuous checks,

connected with face scans that did not find any criminal match or produce any result,

Part 3

that the data may have been accessible to private contractors,

the possibility that private commercial companies and their staff could see or handle this biometric data

Part 4

whose terms of engagement are unclear,

whose official contractual conditions, legal responsibilities, and data handling rules are not transparent,

Part 5

is worrisome.

is a matter of serious concern for citizen privacy and data security.

Sentence 6 of 13

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

However, no statute governs

However, there is no specific written parliamentary law that regulates or controls

Part 2

the use of facial recognition systems;

the operational deployment of face-matching automated technology by police;

Part 3

the Digital Personal Data Protection Act,

India’s landmark personal data protection legislation,

Part 4

whose data-processing obligations are not yet in force,

whose mandatory data handling rules and compliance requirements have not yet been fully implemented,

Part 5

still makes broad exemptions for state agencies.

still grants wide legal relief and exceptions to government and police organizations.

Sentence 7 of 13

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The Automated Facial Recognition System of the National Crime Records Bureau

The centralized face-matching computer system operated by India’s National Crime Records Bureau

Part 2

can be used to identify criminals, unidentified bodies, and so on,

is legally permitted to match and find known offenders, unrecognized deceased bodies, and missing persons,

Part 3

and the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act 2022

and the parliamentary law passed in 2022 regarding criminal identification procedures

Part 4

expanded the set of records

broadened and increased the types of physical and biological measurements

Part 5

that the police may collect from specified persons.

that police officers are authorized to take from arrested, detained, or convicted individuals.

Sentence 8 of 13

However, these actions are still only allowed vis-à-vis specific groups of people.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

However, these actions are still only allowed

However, taking biometric measurements is legally permitted

Part 2

vis-à-vis specific groups of people.

only in relation to clearly defined categories of individuals (such as convicts or formally arrested persons), not ordinary citizens.

Sentence 9 of 13

Irrespective of the constitutional validity of the police’s actions, the chilling effect on potential participants may also curtail the right to protest.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Irrespective of the constitutional validity of the police’s actions,

Regardless of whether the police’s surveillance measures are legally allowed under the Constitution or not,

Part 2

the chilling effect on potential participants

the fear and discouragement created among ordinary citizens who might want to join the protest

Part 3

may also curtail the right to protest.

can severely restrict and reduce people’s fundamental freedom to assemble peacefully and express dissent.

Sentence 10 of 13

The state has to pass a well-established proportionality test when interfering with the right to privacy.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The state has to pass

The government and police authorities are legally obligated to satisfy

Part 2

a well-established proportionality test

a recognized constitutional standard ensuring that state actions are necessary, fair, and not excessive

Part 3

when interfering with the right to privacy.

whenever their surveillance actions intrude upon citizens’ fundamental right to personal privacy.

Sentence 11 of 13

While the first question — the existence of a legitimate objective — already poses important challenges to facial recognition en masse, the technology is indiscriminate at the point of capture.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

While the first question — the existence of a legitimate objective —

Although the first legal requirement (whether the government has a valid and lawful goal) in the proportionality test

Part 2

already poses important challenges

already creates serious legal difficulties and doubts

Part 3

to facial recognition en masse,

for using automated facial recognition on entire crowds of people all at once,

Part 4

the technology is indiscriminate

the camera technology cannot differentiate between innocent protestors and criminals

Part 5

at the point of capture.

at the exact moment when the camera captures images of people in the crowd.

Sentence 12 of 13

After all, there is a less restrictive but equally effective alternative (e.g., conventional policing).

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

After all, there is

After considering everything, there clearly exists

Part 2

a less restrictive but equally effective alternative

another option that limits citizens’ rights far less while achieving the same security results

Part 3

(e.g., conventional policing).

(for example, traditional police patrolling, barricades, and visible security officers).

Sentence 13 of 13

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

At this time,

At the present moment,

Part 2

far too many questions are unanswered —

an excessively large number of serious doubts remain without clear answers (

Part 3

including over the data-processing agreements, access,

such as details about data contracts with private companies, who has permission to view the stored scans,

Part 4

legal provisions that authorised major decisions, and the expected rate of false positives —

the specific sections of law that permitted these surveillance decisions, and how often the AI wrongly misidentifies innocent people)

Part 5

for the use of facial recognition with all protesters to be justified.

to make the mass deployment of facial recognition technology on every person at a protest legally and morally defensible.

Reading Comprehension

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Reading Comprehension - Biometric Surveillance at Protests

Practice reading comprehension questions based on the editorial about facial recognition technology and biometric surveillance at protest sites in India.

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Politics and Governance 7 Economy 5 International Relations 2 Science and Technology 2 Environment 2 Society 0 Security 1 Infrastructure and Energy 2 Media and Communication 1 Miscellaneous 5

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Challenging Vocabulary 131 Idioms and Phrases 80 Phrasal Verbs 42

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