Biometric authentication
Also called: Facial recognition technology, FRT · Topic: Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Remedies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Biometric authentication checks who a person is by using a body trait, such as the face, a fingerprint or the iris. A live scan of the trait is matched with data stored earlier, and access is given if the two match. Facial recognition technology (FRT) is the face-based form of it. It matters for polity because body data is deeply personal. Its use by the State or its agencies must pass the privacy tests of K.S. Puttaswamy (2017): legality (a law must allow it), necessity (a legitimate aim) and proportionality (no more intrusion than needed). Consent and handling of such data also come under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023.
Example
Digi Yatra is a facial-recognition travel facility of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. It was launched on 1 December 2022 at Delhi, Bengaluru and Varanasi airports. A passenger's selfie is matched with their travel details, and the credential is kept in a wallet on the passenger's own phone. This lets them pass terminal entry and boarding gates without showing papers.
Don't confuse with
- Facial recognition for surveillance: authentication matches one person against their own stored record, usually with their consent. Surveillance scans crowds against a large database to pick out people, often without their knowledge. This raises much stronger privacy concerns.