In a first, the Delhi police used facial recognition software to screen crowds at a rally, raising privacy concerns against protesters.

The Indian police started to use the facial-recognition software to scree large crowds as citizens in India are rallying and protesting against the BJP-led government over the new religion-based citizenship law.

The facial-recognition software, which was first used in 2018 to find children that got kidnapped, was used at a political rally for the first time on December 22, 2019.

The tech was sued when Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, defended the new citizenship-law in New Delhi.

Delhi has reportedly started to send the footage of the ongoing protests to the software to filter out the habitual protesters and rowdy elements.

Protests against the new law have sparked police brutality allegations, in which 25 people have been killed by beating and gunshot wounds.

Thousands of people have been injured, and thousands of people have been arrested for joining the protests.

Earlier this month, Narendra Modi blamed the demonstrators for vandalism and public property damage.

Prime Minister Modi said protestors should sit home and ask themselves if they were on the right path in the protests.

A police spokesperson confirmed that the Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) software was used during the December 22, 2019 rally, but no further details about the software were shared with the press and the public.

AFRS is mostly used in offices, airports, and cafes in India.

It was the first time the tech was used in a political rally.