text: Fears raised over facial recognition use at Moscow protests – The Dispatch
  TOPSHOT - People protest against a court decision ordered opposition leader Alexei Navalny jailed for nearly three years, in downtown Moscow on February 2, 2021. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
  TBILISI: Russian authorities are deploying facial recognition cameras to identify protesters during rallies in support of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in Moscow, human rights groups said, warning that the technology is being used to stifle peaceful dissent.
  With more than 105,000 cameras, Moscow boasts one of the world's most comprehensive surveillance systems – which authorities say has helped cut crime and enforce coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
  "They (police) explained that the 'face control' system installed on the subway cameras had worked," he said, adding police told him the system was normally used to identify people who have committed a crime.
  "To my arguments that the Shulmans were definitely not criminals, they could not answer anything, saying that they were just (doing their job)," the lawyer said.
  Authorities have said that the police's heavy-handed response to the demonstrations, which saw thousands of arrests across the country, was justified because the protests were illegal and unauthorised.
  Anastasiia Zlobina of Human Rights Watch, said that "while the authorities continue to deem peaceful unsanctioned protests illegal, the evolving technology at their disposal will keep facilitating the crackdown against such protests."
  "Using such technology to prosecute peaceful protesters at the opposition rallies violates the freedom of assembly and amounts to a discrimination based on political views," said the coordinator for Europe and Central Asia.
  Moscow's Department of Technology, which manages the surveillance system, said in an emailed statement it operates in strict accordance with Russian laws and referred questions on the use of cameras to law enforcement agencies.
  Moscow's police did not reply to a request for comment.
  Photojournalist Georgy Malets wrote on Facebook last month that he was held at another metro station after receiving a call from police warning him that he had been registered as a "political figure" for taking part in an earlier rally he attended for work.
  "Opaque" rules opened the door for possible rights violations, said Karavaev, adding that the Shulman case suggested cameras were used for purposes that went beyond tackling crime.
  Last year, a Moscow court ruled that the city's facial recognition system does not violate the privacy of its citizens, dismissing a lawsuit brought by activists seeking to ban the technology's use at mass events and protests.
  "Collection and storage of protesters' unique biometric data in itself raises serious privacy concerns," said Zlobina.