How a Spanish Company's Banned Surveillance Tech Ended Up Monitoring Millions in India

Spanish firm Herta Security is supplying facial recognition technology to Indian authorities for mass surveillance across major cities and railway stations, even as such systems face heavy restrictions in Europe. The technology is now deployed in locations from Delhi to Jaipur and at Kolkata's Howrah station, where millions of people are monitored daily, according to an investigation by Investigate Europe reported by EUobserver.

EUobserverEU-banned facial-recognition cameras made in Spain now watch millions of Indians

"critics argue the government promise of public safety is not the main aim"

EUobserver noted that critics have questioned the Indian government's stated goal of public safety, suggesting other motives may be at play. The scale of deployment raises significant privacy concerns, particularly given that the technology originates from a European company that cannot legally deploy it at home.

Techpolicy.press highlighted the ethical contradiction, reporting that "European AI companies, particularly Spanish firm Herta Security, are supplying facial recognition technology to Indian authorities despite such surveillance systems being heavily regulated or restricted in Europe." This double standard has drawn increasing scrutiny as civil liberties groups warn that the exported systems may be used for mass surveillance without adequate oversight.

techpolicy.pressEuropean AI Firms Export Banned Facial Recognition Surveillance to India

"This raises concerns about a double standard where European companies export surveillance technologies abroad that they cannot deploy at home due to ethical and legal restrictions."

The situation underscores a growing pattern in which European tech firms circumvent domestic regulations by selling surveillance products to countries with looser legal frameworks. Both outlets reported that Herta Security's technology is now watching millions of Indians daily, with the company operating across multiple Indian states.