FBI to build $1Bn biometrics database
The FBI is expected to announce this week the awarding of a $1 billion, 10-year contract to develop the largest and most comprehensive government biometrics database in history -- with information on the palm prints, eye scans, tattoos, and other identifying physical data of citizens and those who pass through.
First up (...) are palm prints [said Thomas Bush, the FBI official in charge of the Clarksburg, West Virginia, facility where the FBI houses its current fingerprint database.] The FBI has already begun collecting images and hopes to soon use these as an additional means of making identifications. Countries that are already using such images find 20 percent of their positive matches come from latent palm prints left at crime scenes, the FBI's Bush said.LinkThe FBI has also started collecting mug shots and pictures of scars and tattoos. These images are being stored for now as the technology is fine-tuned. All of the FBI's biometric data is stored on computers 30-feet underground in the Clarksburg facility.
In addition, the FBI could soon start comparing people's eyes -- specifically the iris, or the colored part of an eye -- as part of its new biometrics program called Next Generation Identification.
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Thanks for considering me a criminal suspect before I've ever been convicted or even suspected of a crime, Mr. FBI! I'm sure glad you've got all of my identifying information! Here's hoping it isn't misplaced or misused as it has been with worrying frequency in Britain (the modern Panopticon police state).
I'm sure that such a database would never be misused as it has in other countries, IE http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3308576.ece
I'm so glad I've already paid money to voluntarily register my biometrics with the FAA. Thanks FlyClear! What a scam....
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Ha!
I'm always amazed at how what was considered paranoia in the 80's is reality today. People used to brand Mark Stewart (of The Pop Group and Mark Stewart + Mafia) as a kook for his dystopian songs about government surveillance like "As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade." A close buddy used to chide me for getting tattoos since the government could used them to track you - I rolled my eyes and while I agreed it was possible I refused to care.
I'm not really afraid of this. I don't mind the government being able to identify me from every little bit of biometrics data. Why should I? It's not that they're considering you a "suspect." What happens if you're killed and they can't identify the body? What if you're kidnapped and they find prints or DNA traces or an image on a security camera that a computer flagged because an alert was out for you? What if you're unconscious and the hospital needs to know what you're allergic to? What could the government do with identifying data that's so bad, anyway, tell everyone how fat you are compared to your height or laugh at your choice of color-changing contact lens??
Well...
The government isn't really very good at determining things for themselves.
For instance, whether you ARE a criminal. They pretty much do what they want, and rarely apologize if they are wrong.
Another consideration is that only people who are honest, or who have been caught, will be in this database. You might have to participate if you are in the military, or a police officer, or a civil servant, even -- but unless we're rounding people up with Storm Troopers, the average Joe will only end up in this AFTER the fact.
A lot of innocent folks could end up in lineups and under suspicion of crimes just because they fit a profile - and the person who committed the crime isn't in the database.
We don't need Big Brother watching us. The government that governs least, and all that.
-DNW
we should have a kinder and gentler dictator of the empire in just in time to quash concern over the government's expanding reach....
Trusting the government is bull crap. All they've done for me is take my money for taxes. Sure, we have one of the best democratic systems in the world, but that was setup by the founding fathers. It was setup to give us some sort of democratic "feel". Its not perfect, but compared to other countries, it seems to work--the country ruled by the many.
And now we want to trust the government! A government made up of people like you and I. A government created by people ruled by the many, given over to be ruled by the few. They know what's best! Corporations and businesses know what's best! They have my best interest in mind!
I see now the beginning of the end. Putting our trust in man instead of God.
Haven't they fought crime in the past pretty successfully without this? We should just ask if it's actually necessary...that is necessary for the stated purposes. Beyond those, I'm sure there's plenty of applications that they can use this for...
Okay:
$1 billion. Please. And Iraq war was supposed to be over in "weeks, not months."
Will Halliburton get the bid?
Also: we have fifty states that can't share between each other such basic things as vehicle registration. Let's go for the low hanging fruit before we want to index the millions of humans. Let's get to where a toll road in Texas will recognize a license plate from Arkansas.
@#8
And i suppose you'd rather pay taxes to god then, eh?
I wouldn't worry too much. Remember, between 2001 & 2005 the FBI spent $170 milliion for a system to track their cases. It never worked. It was abandoned. They're working on a new one now. Estimated cost: $425 million.
hey, SAIC made big coin on that FBI flop, better watch it
"Let he is without sin cast the first stone". #5, do you trully believe that you can live the next week without breaking any laws, if the government were to watch you every minute? We are all guilty of breaking some law or another. From big ones, to small minor, stupid, outdated laws nobody even knew still existed.
In a totally surveiled society, the government does not prosecute everybody for every minor infraction. Instead, it builds a dosier for every person. A list of past wrongs for which you can be prosecuted. This is then used to force compliance to the wishes of those in power.
if you've ever handled a penny they have your DNA on file.