Non-profit
Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF)
The Internet Freedom Foundation is a Delhi-based digital rights organisation founded in 2016 out of the SaveTheInternet net neutrality campaign. It litigates and campaigns on privacy and surveillance in India, runs Project Panoptic, the public tracker of facial recognition systems deployed by Indian governments, and files objections and RTI requests against face recognition in policing, schools and attendance systems.
Updated November 6, 2026 · 2 min read · reviewed November 6, 2026
What is the IFF?
The IFF grew out of the 2015 SaveTheInternet campaign that helped secure India's net neutrality rules, and was registered as a charitable trust in 2016. It is donor-funded, has a small legal and policy staff in New Delhi, and works through Supreme Court and High Court litigation, submissions to Parliament and ministries, Right to Information requests and explainers for the public.
What has it done about face recognition?
- Project Panoptic, launched in 2020, tracks facial recognition systems deployed or procured by central and state governments in India: police systems including the NCRB's national automated facial recognition system, airport DigiYatra, railway stations, and school and office attendance. It is the only public inventory of its kind in India.
- Legal notices and RTIs to Delhi Police over the use of face recognition on protesters in 2020 and 2021, and to state governments over attendance systems using Aadhaar-linked face authentication.
- DPDP Act: submissions on the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and its 2025 rules, arguing that the law lacks specific limits on biometric processing and gives wide exemptions to the state.
- Court work: interventions on the Puttaswamy privacy framework being applied to surveillance, and challenges under the IT Act and rules.
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2016
IFF registered
After the SaveTheInternet net neutrality campaign.
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2020-02
Legal notice to Delhi Police
Over face recognition used at protests.
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2020-11
Project Panoptic launched
Public tracker of facial recognition deployments in India.
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2023-08
DPDP Act submissions
Analysis of the Act's exemptions and the absence of biometric-specific limits.
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2025-11
Response to the DPDP Rules
Commentary on the rules notified on 14 November 2025.
How do you use the IFF?
- Project Panoptic to check which Indian agencies run face recognition and on what legal basis.
- Its explainers on the DPDP Act, the IT Rules and how to file an RTI.
- Its reporting on specific deployments, which this wiki cites alongside press coverage.
Questions
What does Project Panoptic show?
A map and database of facial recognition systems in India, with the deploying agency, purpose, vendor where known, and the legal basis or lack of one, built from RTI replies and public records.
Does the IFF help people remove their photos from face search engines?
No. It works on law and policy. Removal goes through each engine's own route, listed in the opt-out routes directory.
Is face search regulated in India?
There is no face-recognition-specific law. The DPDP Act 2023 covers personal data generally and its rules took effect in phases from November 2025; see the India entry under laws.
Sources
- 1.Internet Freedom Foundation (checked November 6, 2026)
- 2.Project Panoptic (checked November 6, 2026)
- 3.The Wire: Facial recognition technology has come to India but a law to regulate it has not (checked November 6, 2026)
Entry reviewed November 6, 2026. Found an error? Tell us.
Related entries
- Law India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 India's DPDP Act 2023 and Rules 2025: phased commencement to May 2027, consent and notice duties, the Data Protection Board, penalties up to 250 crore rupees.
- Law India: Information Technology Act 2000 and the IT Rules 2021 India's IT Act 2000 and IT Rules 2021: Section 66E privacy offences, 24-hour removal of intimate and impersonating images, safe harbour, and the 2026 deepfake rules.
- Organisation Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) India's national cybercrime coordination body: the cybercrime.gov.in portal, the 1930 helpline, what to report there and how, and its scam advisories.
- Directory Opt-out routes for every face search engine Opt-out routes for 20 face and image search engines side by side: form or email, verification asked for, stated timeline, cost and link. Checked Nov 6, 2026.
- Organisation Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) The US digital rights group: its litigation and campaigns on face recognition, the Atlas of Surveillance, BIPA briefs, and its self-defence guides.
Cite this entry
FaceSearch Wiki editors. "Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF)". FaceSearch Wiki, updated November 6, 2026. https://facesearch.wiki/organisations/internet-freedom-foundation/