RTI to South Western Railways on KSR Bengaluru Station dated February 2, 2020

The information sought herein relates to the pilot project of face recognition software implemented by the South Western Railways in the KSR Bengaluru Station and the subsequent Press Release No. 342 dated 09.01.2020. Please provide information in response to the following queries:

1. Please provide all documents and reports relating to the pilot project conducted in the KSR Bengaluru Station from January 2019.

2. Please provide documents which state that the pilot project was 100 per cent successful as claimed in the press release.

3. Please provide documents which mention the methodology followed for the pilot project.

4. Please state the legislation or rule which authorizes the South Western Railways to use facial recognition technology.

5. Please state whether any legal opinion was sought by the South Western Railways prior to procurement of facial recognition technology. If yes, please provide a copy of the legal opinion.

6. Please state whether any cost-benefit analysis, feasibility study or privacy impact assessment was conducted prior to deployment of facial recognition technology. If yes, please provide a copy of the same.

7. Please state whether there are any guidelines, policies, rules or standard operating procedure governing the use of facial recognition technology by the South Western Railways. If yes, please provide a copy of the same.

8. Please state the specific purposes for which facial recognition technology is being used by the South Western Railways.

9. Please state the total expenditure incurred (in rupees) on procurement and maintenance of facial recognition technology with an annual breakdown.

10. Please provide a copy of the following documents relating to tender issued by the South Western Railways for procurement of facial recognition technology: a. All tender documents including Request for Proposals, Request for Quotations and Scope of Work

    b. List of bidders who applied for the tender

11. Please provide an exhaustive list of persons and/or organizations authorised to operate and use facial recognition technology.

12. Please provide details of the software and hardware being used for facial recognition.

13. Please provide details of the database(s) in which images are stored for the purpose of facial recognition including:

    a. Where these images are sourced from.

    b. Where is this database located.

    c. Which persons and/or organizations who have access to this database.