Dialog Enterprise, a subsidiary of Dialog Axiata one of Sri Lanka’s largest mobile network provider, has launched a new video surveillance service capable of facial recognition.
This development comes as Sri Lanka’s Opposition party members have accused the government intelligence agencies of collecting data on civilians as apart of a larger surveillance project. Shiral Lakthilaka, a lawyer and nominee from Samagi Jana Balavegaya who worked has as an advisor for President Maithripala Sirisena has been critical of the governments “Big data” project.
Dialog Enterprise surveillance
Dialog Enterprise has stated that their system can provide analytics related to the activity of highly frequented areas. This includes people count, face recognition and detection, object detection and queue detection. The software also has capabilities for intrusion detection, traffic analysis and number plate recognition. Additional modules to the software such as the crime module have been designed for crime detection and prevention.
The video surveillance service is also capable of temperature screening and social distancing detection.
Sri Lanka’s Security State
This month the Sri Lankan army announced the establishment of a new “Drone Regiment”. The regiment was deployed in parts of the island where the armed forces have been arresting those it claims have been breaking coronavirus lockdown regulations.
The pervasive nature of Sri Lanka's surveillance state is evident across the North-East. A report published from the NGO; Society for Threatened Peoples details the insidious nature of militarisation occurring in the North-East.
"Since the end of the war, the security forces have been acquiring land without following any official procedures. As a consequence, the military is not only repressing fundamental freedoms, such as the freedom of movement, as people are not allowed to enter the occupied areas but also arbitrarily depriving or restricting people of their traditional livelihood," the report notes.
Read more here: Militarisation remains pervasive across the North-East says NGO.
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