The Tamil Nadu police unit used CopsEye developed software to store images
The issue was highlighted by security researchers
The data and the app have been taken down from public view
In a major privacy breach, Tamil Nadu police’s Madurai unit’s database of thousands of ‘suspected criminals’ was made public without its knowledge. The database included names and photographs of the people under the scanner.
The leaked data also included OTP codes, administrator password and details of the police officers using the app. The database was found by security researchers Robert Baptiste, also known as Elliot Alderson, and Oliver Hough. The duo took to Twitter to report the data breach.
The Tamil Nadu police used CopsEye, designed by Madurai-based startup Geomeo Informatics, to enable a facial recognition security system. The system was adopted by Madurai police in June this year.
The app allowed the police to take photos of people suspected to be involved in criminal activities. Cops Eye would automatically scan the previous criminal records to make investigations of the suspects easy.