Spanish facial recognition firm deploys mass surveillance in India
Spanish facial recognition firm Herta Security has supplied software powering approximately 4,000 cameras across India for mass surveillance applications at railway stations, prisons, and city control rooms. Legal scholars specialising in EU biometrics law reportedly stated that at least two of these deployments would be unlawful under European regulations.
What happened
Spanish firm Herta Security has supplied facial recognition software powering approximately 4,000 cameras across India, according to one of the company's local partners. The technology is deployed at Indian Railways' Eastern Region stations including Howrah station in Kolkata, Delhi's largest prison complex, a pilgrimage site in Ayodhya, and city control rooms in Ahmedabad.
According to four leading legal scholars specialising in EU artificial intelligence and biometrics law, at least two of these deployments—the system on Indian Railways' Eastern Region and a city-wide surveillance programme in Ahmedabad—would be deemed unlawful if they operated inside the European Union. Herta confirmed the use of its technology in India and stated it develops products "in line with European data-protection principles, regardless of the market in which they are deployed."
Reported impact
At Howrah station, around 100 live facial-recognition cameras monitor approximately one million people daily. The system matches faces from live feeds against databases of wanted offenders, criminal suspects, and missing people, alerting railway police to exact locations and authorising police to approach individuals.
Women's rights groups in India argue that millions of euros earmarked for the Nirbhaya Fund, created to tackle sexual violence, have been spent on mass surveillance rather than on more direct victim protection and support. Some commuters at surveillance sites appear unaware they are being tracked by facial recognition technology.
Index analysis
The deployment represents a case of a technology restricted in one jurisdiction being exported to another with fewer regulatory constraints. The systems enable collection and processing of biometric data at scale without apparent consent mechanisms.
Governance controls
Herta stated it takes data protection concerns seriously and develops products in line with European data-protection principles regardless of deployment location. The company declined to disclose confidential customer information regarding its specific deployments.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.