RTIs to Telangana State Election Commission & Telangana State Technology Service on the Real Time Digital Authentication of Identity (RTDAI)

RTI 1 filed on 24.01.2020

The information sought herein relates to the use of facial recognition technology by the Telangana State Election Commission (Telangana EC) during the urban local body elections in Kompally Municipality as stated in Circular No.111/TSEC-ULBs/2020 dated 18.01.2020. Please provide information in response to the following queries:

1. Please state the legislation or rule under which the Telangana EC is authorized to use facial recognition technology.

2. Please provide a copy of the undertaking provided to the Telangana EC by Telangana State Technology Services (TSTS) regarding storage, use and deletion of the photographs taken to be used with facial recognition mobile APP.

3. Please state how the Mobile APP uses artificial intelligence and deep learning to identify and authenticate eligible voters.

4. Please state the results of previous use of facial recognition mobile APP by TSTS for validating the life/identity of pensioners including:

   a. What was the error rate when facial recognition mobile APP was used to authenticate identities of eligible pensioners?

   b. Whether any bugs were reported when facial recognition mobile APP was used to authenticate identities of eligible pensioners?

5. Please provide a copy of the brief given to all the stakeholders about use of the facial recognition mobile APP for elections and the procedure to be followed in polling stations on the date of polling.

6. Please state the total expenditure incurred (in rupees) on the procurement and use of the facial recognition mobile APP.

RTI 2 filed on 05.02.2020

The information sought herein relates to the use of facial recognition technology by the Telangana State Election Commission (Telangana EC) during the urban local body elections in Kompally Municipality as stated in Circular No.111/TSEC-ULBs/2020 dated 18.01.2020 and the news report titled “No glitches, 65-86 per cent success rate in first trial of facial tech in polls in Telangana” published in The Indian Express on February 3, 2020. Please provide information in response to the following queries:

1. Please provide information regarding whether an official report containing the result of the pilot exercise conducted has been published. If yes, please provide a copy of the same.

2. Please provide information supporting the claim made by an official of the State-owned Telangana State Technology Services (TSTS) that the success rate of the pilot was 65-86 per cent.

3. Please provide information regarding whether there are any future plans being undertaken which use facial recognition technology. If yes, please provide details of the same.