The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has developed an Artificial-Intelligence-based facial recognition tool that can be used for the reduction of fraud. In this article, you can read more about the new technology, known as ASTR, for the IAS exam science and technology segment.
ASTR Facial Recognition
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) claims the tool called Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition powered Solution for Telecom SIM Subscriber Verification (ASTR) can potentially bring down cyber frauds by detecting and blocking possible fraudulent mobile connections.
- In 2012, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) issued an order to all telecom operators that they would have to share their subscriber database including users’ pictures with the department.
- The ASTR project was conceptualised and designed between April 2021 and July 2021 by the DoT’s unit.
- A pilot project was launched in Haryana’s Mewat region to test ASTR’s feasibility.
- It is understood that before the ASTR pilot project, there were approximately 16.69 lakh SIMs in Mewat, of which close to 5 lakh SIMs across all telecom operators were detected to be fraudulent.
How Does ASTR Work?
- A face comparison is carried out for each face against all faces in the database, and similar faces are grouped under one directory.
- Two faces are concluded to be identical by ASTR if they match to the extent of at least 97.5 per cent. As per Jakhar’s paper:
- ASTR is capable of detecting all SIMs against a suspected face in less than 10 seconds from a database of 1 crore images.
- Once the faces are matched, ASTR’s algorithm uses what it describes as “fuzzy logic” to find similarities or approximate matches for the subscriber names.
- The DoT allows an individual to take nine legitimate mobile phone connections using a single identity proof.
- The ASTR
- Looks up if there are more than nine connections against a single individual’s photograph;
- It runs a search through the database to see if the same person has taken SIMs under different names.
- ASTR had detected as many as 6,800 connections against the same image of the subscriber, that is, the same face, but different names. In another case, 5,300 connections were found to have been taken against a single image.
Way Forward:
- Once the DoT has determined that a set of numbers have been obtained by people through fraudulent means, it shares a list of those connections with telecom operators to block.
- An analysis of more than 87 crore mobile connections was carried out using ASTR in the first phase, where more than 40 lakh cases of people using a single photograph to obtain mobile connections were detected.
- After “due verification”, more than 36 lakh connections were discontinued by telecom operators.
- The same list is also shared with banks, payment wallets, and social media platforms for disengaging these numbers from their respective platforms.
ASTR Facial Recognition of Face [UPSC Notes]:- Download PDF Here
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