This article examines facial recognition technology—its applications, types, and how it works—and then delves into its use by the Islamic Republic of Iran, assessing the government’s access to cutting-edge technologies in this field.
Facial recognition technology is a prominent capability in the realm of artificial intelligence, used to identify or verify individuals through their facial features. Utilizing complex algorithms to analyze characteristics like the distance between the eyes, the shape of the nose, and the contour of the lips, this technology is currently employed in various sectors, including security, surveillance, advertising, and even entertainment.
Despite its numerous utilities, the use of facial recognition technology has raised concerns about privacy preservation and the potential for misuse. In Iran, instances of this technology being used for purposes such as enforcing mandatory hijab compliance and identifying protesters highlight the government’s approach to leveraging technology for citizen control and repression—a topic explored in the latest episode of the “Seventh Layer” podcast.
Government Use of Facial Recognition in Iran
The Iranian government’s use of facial recognition technology has faced repeated scrutiny. Concerns began in May 2019, when citizens started receiving fines via text messages for not wearing proper hijab inside their vehicles. The issue resurfaced in August 2022, following the arrest of Sepideh Rashno, who was detained after a video of her confronting a veiled woman on a bus went viral.
Just days after Rashno’s incident, Mohammad Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani, then-head of the Headquarters for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice—a state institution responsible for enforcing religious and social norms—claimed that city cameras could differentiate unveiled women from others. He asserted that, using national ID data, authorities could identify and fine them. This claim was met with skepticism from technical experts at the time.
Less than a month later, with the onset of the nationwide “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police, the plan to issue fines based on facial recognition data was temporarily shelved. However, evidence suggests that during the 2022 protests, the government extensively used this technology to suppress protesters and dissenters.
Reports surfaced indicating that drones, city traffic cameras, handheld devices used by security forces, and CCTV in public spaces were employed to monitor and identify protesters. After the Fall 2022 protests, the government sought to demonstrate the effectiveness of its facial recognition systems. In one instance, footage from Mashhad’s metro was broadcast, showing passengers with their faces framed, suggesting that their facial features were being identified and analyzed within a system.
Further investigations revealed that the Mashhad metro footage was not live, and the claims surrounding it were unfounded.
Which Companies Are Collaborating with the Government?
Several companies in Iran offer facial recognition services, but only a few have allied with the Attorney General’s Office to aid in suppressing dissent. An examination of hacked emails from the Attorney General’s Office between 2015 and 2022 by Filterwatch shows that at least two companies, “Niafam” and “Yaftar,” have collaborated with the office in detecting nudity and lack of hijab in online photos (not live images).
Additionally, companies such as “Tosee Novin Hamrah Kish,” “Zoom ID,” “Pars National Application,” and “Tarh va Pardazesh Ghadir” are other collaborators, building platforms to estimate the age, gender, race, and certain emotions of individuals.
Beyond domestic companies, Iran has invested in similar foreign services. For instance, investigations by Filterwatch reveal that Iran has purchased facial recognition cameras licensed by Germany’s Bosch company. In 2018, Bosch conducted facial recognition and object tracking training courses at Khatam University but claims it did not provide Iran with software that transforms traffic control cameras into facial recognition devices. However, digital rights activists later demonstrated that the Iranian government independently purchased this software from a Danish company.
Two independent civil groups also discovered, via the Chinese company Tiandy’s website, that various branches of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and police have acquired facial recognition software and equipped cameras from this Chinese firm. Despite these reports, and even though the U.S. government sanctioned Tiandy in December 2022, traces of its ongoing collaboration with the Iranian government can still be found on the company’s website.
Moreover, with the advancement of smart technologies in Iran, the government’s ability to maintain a database of user facial images has become more unrestricted under new laws compared to the past. For example, according to the draft of the Seventh Development Plan, all users’ daily life information is set to be shared among all government agencies through a structure called the National Information Gateway. This data, aside from government agencies, will also be available to the National Information Gateway through various databases.
No specific definition has been provided for these databases, and the data could include photos that identity service providers offer to third parties, such as banks.
Legal Concerns: Global Comparisons and Iran’s Model
The use of facial recognition technology in public spaces requires precise legal and ethical frameworks due to the collection and processing of personal information. In many countries, specific laws and protocols exist to oversee this technology and ensure individuals’ privacy is protected.
However, in Iran, a significant legal void is evident in this area. The lack of codified and advanced data protection laws and the absence of transparent protocols for monitoring the performance of facial recognition systems have raised numerous concerns.
For instance, using this technology to “combat improper hijab” is considered a discriminatory pretext targeting a specific gender—women—and introduces distinctions among individuals based on religious beliefs. Such an approach contradicts human rights principles and global standards and cannot be deemed a legal application of public norms.
Globally, facial recognition technology remains nascent and sometimes fails to operate accurately. For example, in the United Kingdom, facial recognition systems disproportionately subject Black individuals to suspicion. In cases where such errors occur, non-governmental organizations launch campaigns or pressure large European and American companies to assert their rights.
What sets Iran apart from other parts of the world is the government’s upper hand and its lack of accountability to the people. Additionally, Chinese and Russian companies appear to continue their collaboration with oppressive governments in providing surveillance technologies, despite U.S. sanctions.
Meanwhile, resistance against the misuse of facial recognition technology is growing globally. Civil activities and awareness campaigns, alongside pressuring tech companies to establish transparent and ethical policies for using this technology, are steps toward safeguarding individual rights and preventing violations of privacy.
