Technological Developments During The COVID-19 Pandemic
We have been tracking the technological developments by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic. The information has been collected mostly from secondary sources, and our list is non-exhaustive in nature.
To report any technological developments taking place, please notify us on Twitter (@sflcin) or drop us an e-mail at delhi@sflc.in.
Development of a facial recognition software and a GPS tracking App ‘Saiyam’
Organization responsible: Pune Police and Pune Municipal Corporation’s IT Department
The Pune Police and the Pune Municipal Corporation have developed a facial recognition software system for surveillance of home quarantined persons in Pune and Pimpri-Chichwad areas. The major features of this technological development are the selfie-app based face recognition and location tracking system that enables a passenger/person to register itself with the details. Once the registration is approved, the app enables a passenger to upload its attendance in the form of a selfie with location tagging in realtime. This information is sent to a private cloud based server which runs a realtime Artificial Intelligence based face recognition and location tracking algorithm.
Date: 01.04.2020
Source: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1616686
Uses facial recognition and geo- fencing
Organization responsible: NotionTag Technologies
People placed in home quarantine have to provide the app access to their GPS location and enter an image of their face. After that, the police sends them prompts at random hours to verify their faces. The police can also see a heat map of all quarantined/affected people on a centralised map by district, by area on a centrallised web dashboard.
Date: 03.04.2020
Source: https://www.medianama.com/2020/04/223-face-recognition-tamil-nadu-quarantine-coronavirus
COVID-19 Patient Tracking Tool
Organization responsible: Private (through tender)
The BECIL had released a expression of interest for Empanelment of Agency for Supply of Healthcare Equipment. To this tender a corrigendum was released adding three more items to be supplied one of them was a COVID-19 Patient Tracking Tool.Many components of the tool included in the tender document go beyond the common requirements of contact tracing and could result in pervasive surveillance.
Date: 10.04.2020
Source: https://www.becil.com/uploads/tender/Corrigendumhealthcarepdf-66a662d4d6c8e2facb46fd1574ab41f4.pdf
Drones having night flying and thermal imaging capability and live feed system.
Organization responsible: NA
Mehrauli was designated as a containment zone. Delhi Policy used a drone feed system to keep a check on people’s movement in Mehrauli. The drones used for surveillance were equipped with night-flying capability and had thermal and live feed system.
Date: 28.04.2020
Source: https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/delhi-police-use-drone-feed-system-to-keep-check-on-lockdown-violators-in-mehrauli20200428224942
Mobile Applications for updates for a healthy lifestyle, immunity boosting
Organization responsible: Stucare Technologies Private Limited
The UP Government AYUSH Department has launched the “AYUSH Kavach” App to provide its users with latest information on health and lifestyle. It has been developed by a private firm named StuCare Technologies. The App has Ayush Tele Kavach for medical consultation with AYUSH experts. There is no defined privacy policy or terms of use of the App. The privacy policy allows sharing of data with other users as well the business partners.
Date: 06.05.2020
Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stucare.ayush&hl=en_IN
Thermal imaging camera with face detection capability
Organization responsible: NA
The thermal and optical imaging camera with AI-based face detection technology to screen people for high body temperature can be mounted on a tripod to screen large crowds. The camera has been optimised to detect body temperature higher than 36 degrees Celsius, and if it detects a temperature higher than that, a police official guarding the camera will ask the person to step out of the queue for further screening.
Date: 6.05.2020
Source: https://www.medianama.com/2020/05/223-kerala-thermal-imaging-camera-face-detection/
Artificial Intelligence for the purpose of penalising those are flouting the mask rules known as the Physical Distancing Index
Organization responsible: Technology Wing of the Telangana Police and Larsen Toubro
In order to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Telangana Police has deployed Facial Recognition Technology to identify the violators of the mask rules. The software tool is linked to CCTV cameras installed across the city to identify face mask rule violators. Cameras will flag those not wearing the masks and an alert will be sent to the central command control center at the state police headquarters. This will be passed on to patrolling personnel to trace the violators either riding bikes or walking on foot.The Telangana police has said that this is not a facial recognition tool.
Date: 13.05.2020
Source: https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/technology/telangana-as-covid-19-cases-surge-police-to-deploy-ai-to-detect-face-mask-rule-violators-in-hyderabad/75695200
IGiS Geo-Locator, Movement tracker
Organization responsible: Scanpoint Geomatics Ltd.
District authorities in Dehradun are using a mobile application to track the movement of those put in home quarantine after their arrival from another district or state during the lockdown.When a person put in home quarantine moves 50 metres beyond their residence, an alert is generated and their movement is flashed inside the Integrated Command and Control Room. An alert message is passed to the nearest police station and outpost so that police personnel can immediately look into the matter.
Date: 13.05.2020
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/coronavirus-lockdown-dehradun-using-app-to-monitor-home-quarantine-6407162/
CCTV surveillance system which uses AI-based face recognition
Organization responsible: Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Scanpoint Geomatics, and Webline were involved.
Quarantine wards in four hospitals and one hotel in Dehradun, are being surveilled round the clock using a CCTV surveillance system which uses AI-based face recognition, and video feeds collected from CCTV cameras. This data will be stored at the Integrated Command and Control Centre set up by Dehradun Smart City Limited (DSCL).
Date: 14.05.2020
Source: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1622892
Infrared Thermography Temperature Scanner for Rapid Measurement and Read-Time Decision Making
Organization responsible: Cocoslabs Innovation Solutions Private Limited ; Advance Mechanical Services Private Limited
The Technology Development Board (TDB) is scouting for novel solutions for supporting efforts in tackling the health care emergency. One of the products to identify abnormal body temperature in a crowd will be developed by Cocoslabs. It will include features such as detection and tracking a person with and without mask, prediction of age, gender, race,temperature readings, and facial recognition in a single product that can track multiple people in a real time environment.
Date: 17. 05. 2020
Source: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1624707
Monitoring Technology including GDP system, geo-tagging, all through the centralised application
Organization responsible: Vera HealthCare
The Vera healthcare provides monitoring technology on the IoT, smart devices, GDP system, geo-tagging through the use of a centralised application, the COVID-19 monitoring system. The same company has also developed iMASQ (Intelligent Monitoring Analysing Services Quarantine) with AI services to cope with COVID-19 monitoring and surveillance in containment zones.
Date: 19.05.2020
Source: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/telangana-ramps-up-the-use-of-ai-to-track-covid-19-cases
‘Information Intelligence Module
Organization responsible: Sprinklr
This enables the government to track digitally available data, fro example posts on social media withregard to COVID symptoms, lack of health kit supplies, etc. and thus keep a check on the requirements as well as potential hot spots that might develop.
Date: 06..06.2020
Source: https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/2020/jun/06/sprinklr-helping-telangana-track-netizens-covid-19-talk-across-social-media-platforms-2152844.html
AI enabled surveillance solutions
Organization responsible: Vidooly
It consists of RFID technology, CCTV cameras, thermal scanners, Face ID, movement detector and mechanized doors; Contact Free Access Control, that guarantees contactless entry; CCTV based Face Mask Detection; Social Distance Detection to prevent crowd formation; Thermal Scanning to check temperature; Zone Monitoring to monitor unauthorized movements in restricted zones.
Date: 10.06.2020
Source: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/vidooly-launches-ai-based-surveillance-tech-to-contain-spread-of-covid-19-11591886854723.html
Global Positioning System (GPS)
Organization responsible: NA
The Punjab govt. is considering deployment of lockable wrist bands that are based on a GPS tracker to observe strict quarantine measures and to know if anyone violates the 14 days quarantine period. The health department is yet to take a decision.
Date: 11.06.2020
Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/coronavirus-punjab-government-considers-using-gps-trackers-for-those-under-home-quarantine-2244068
FebriEye Thermal Cameras
Organization responsible: Central Railway
The FebriEye thermal cameras, powered by artificial intelligence-based thermal screening system, will ensure contactless entry for train travellers. All passengers boarding Mail/Express trains are being scanned by Febrieye at the entry point for higher temperature before going inside the platform for boarding.
Date: 15.06.2020
Source: https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/technology/mumbai-cr-installs-ai-based-thermal-body-scanners-at-csmt-and-ltt/76380437
AI monitors through camera and 'local computing device'
Organization responsible: Amazon
Amazon has deployed an AI based system using cameras and a local comuting device thorugh a monitor screen to surveil social distancing of employees at work throughout the day. Employees maintaing a 6 feet distance will be indicated with a green circle while the ones that are closer will be indicated with a red.
Date: 17.06.2020
Source: https://www.medianama.com/2020/06/223-amazon-distance-assistant/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+medianama+(Medianama%3A+Digital+Media+In+India)
COVID-19 Blackbody Surveillance Cameras
Organization responsible: Tenders floated
AI-based COVID surveillance cameras that detect body temperatures of individuals and whether a person is wearing a mask.
Date:
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/railways-floats-tenders-for-covid-surveillance-cameras-6475016
Itihas, movement tracker
Organization responsible: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
A combination of Aarogya Setu and the Itihas surveillance infrastructure will be used to track travel histories through mobile towers and store information in dedicated servers to make projections about emerging clusters of COVID-19.
Date: 9.07.2020
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/tech-to-track-people-who-break-quarantine-norms/articleshow/76863747.cms
Facial Recognition and Geolocation- based tool used for tracking
Organization responsible: Pune Police and Maharashtra Police
The facial recognition and geolocation-based application ExTra (Externees monitoring and Tracking system) is a spin-off of the Home Quarantine Tracking System (HQTS), used initially by Pune Police and Maharashtra Police to monitor people who had been asked to remain in home quarantine. Pune City police had operationalised ExTra in the second week of June.
Date: 13.06.2020
Source: https://www.punekarnews.in/now-pune-police-will-use-facial-recognition-geolocation-based-app-to-track-externed-criminals/
Social Distancing Tool
Organization responsible: Government of India
A team of Indian Telecommunication Service officers developed DRISHTI (Digital Real Time Artificial Intelligence System for maintaining Social Distancing with Timely Intervention), an AI driven indigenous solution relying on Real Time Image recognition and Video Processing for detecting the instances of violations of Social Distancing and Face Mask wearing, alongwith announcements.
Date: 26.06.2020
Source: https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/technology/ai-powered-drishti-for-ensuring-social-distance/76638334