Across India, digital surveillance systems are increasingly becoming a key part of modern policing, with law enforcement agencies deploying networks of CCTV cameras, facial recognition technology, drone-based monitoring, automated number plate recognition systems and AI-powered video analytics. While authorities argue that such tools improve public safety and policing efficiency, their growing use has also raised concerns among civil liberties groups over privacy, proportionality, transparency, and the absence of a comprehensive legal framework governing state-sponsored surveillance. What surveillance technology has Delhi Police deployed? One vehicle at the site is a Mobile Command and Control Vehicle, where police personnel examine live CCTV feeds. The second is called Ikshana, a mobile surveillance van inducted ahead of the G20 Summit in Delhi in 2023. Ikshana has eight fixed cameras providing a 360-degree view. Its technology partner, CP Plus, says the vehicle supports face detection and recognition, number-plate recognition, traffic management, crowd monitoring, and on-the-spot video analytics. At Jantar Mantar, footage from cameras in the area is being run through facial recognition software, which places boxes around detected faces and compares them with images in police databases. A senior officer told The Indian Express that the purpose was to check whether the system flags anyone matching the police’s database of criminals. The Delhi Police has not publicly detailed the database’s size or composition, the software’s accuracy at the protest site, or the procedure followed after a possible match. Story continues below this ad Some reports on social media have also said that the police are wearing AI-enabled smart glasses to surveil protesters. During the Republic Day celebrations earlier this year, the Delhi Police had used AI-enabled smart spectacles equipped with an integrated facial recognition system and thermal imaging technology. The product is developed by an Indian company called AjnaLens. The Delhi Police did not respond