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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sent an official request to social media platforms to use Microsoft's PhotoDNA for purposes of investigation in regular criminal cases, according to an Indian Express report.
According to Microsoft, this technology is used exclusively to identify child exploitation images. However, using this to put all users under surveillance would violate the right to privacy upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. But, what is this technology?
What is PhotoDNA?
PhotoDNA is a technology developed and owned by Microsoft, which computes hash values of images, video and audio files to identify similar images. It is mainly used to prevent child pornography from being uploaded on the web and is free to use. The company has restricted the use of this software beyond this purpose in all countries. The software creates a unique digital signature of any image and then compares it to other photos to find a similar one.
It was made available to qualified organisations as a free cloud service. It is used by giants like Google and its applications Twitter, Facebook and Adobe Systems. Microsoft also donated this technology to Project Vic, which is managed and supported by the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC). This initiative assists in narrowing the focus of child pornography law enforcement investigations through the use of this technology.
What is the debate?
Many countries in Europe are debating the use of this technology for regular investigations. The EU's European Privacy Regulation wants a complete ban on social media companies using this software. This is because it would be a violation of the international norms which mandate the technology to be used for one particular purpose.
The CBI has not disclosed how it means to use the PhotoDNA, but Apar Gupta of the Internet Freedom Foundation calls it a 'slippery slope of surveillance and censorship'.
"If any police or investigative agency is using PhotoDNA for a general crime investigation, it is a massive breach of the intended purpose of this technology, which is only for checking child sex abuse cases," he is quoted as saying by IE.
This has come at a time when there is a raging debate about privacy in the country and the government is about to amend the Information Technology (IT) rules. The government recently met with executives of Google, Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp among other players in the industry to discuss changes to the rules.
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