Two human rights groups in Russia have called for the expansion of surveillance measures to police citizens to be regulated to ensure they are temporary and proportionate.
They worry the use of technology including facial recognition technology and collection of personal data could be misused.
Adam Reed reports.
Two human rights groups based in Moscow have called for clarity on how data from facial recognition technology around the city will be used and stored.
Surveillance of Russia’s citizens is a key part of getting back to normal life for authorities, but the groups say they want to ensure measures are temporary and proportionate.
Moscow currently has 178,000 facial recognition cameras around the city and has used them to catch more than 200 people violating restrictions in the past month.
The cameras are capable of tracking individuals using just their silhouette and for detecting groups standing too close to each other.
Nikolay Grinin of the company that supplied the cameras defended the use of the tech, but admits questions on how it’s used are right to be asked.
(SOUNDBITE) HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS OF "NTECHLAB" NIKOLAY GRUNIN, SAYING: "Face analysis technology has a lot of possibilities.
The product can include additional features that are not there yet.
However, I think the questions like "how are you really going to use it?" should be addressed to Moscow’s Department of Information Technologies, the Moscow authorities and their representatives." Agora, a Moscow-based human rights group, and Roskomsvoboda, a digital rights campaign group, said the unprecedented nature of the current situation meant some curbing of citizens' rights and freedoms was justified, but federal laws need to be introduced to ensure information is not misused.
One medic in Moscow who asked not to be named, said he and his colleagues had received instructions by WhatsApp, seen by Reuters, from a senior doctor telling them to photograph positively diagnosed patients.
A demand that had caused some unease.
Moscow's Department of Information Technology (DIT) did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment and the city police force said it was also unavailable to speak on the issue.