Poesia [ ] T Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 CLARKSBURG, West Virginia (CNN) -- The FBI is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people's physical characteristics, all part of an effort the bureau says to better identify criminals and terrorists. The FBI wants to use eye scans, combined with other data, to help identify suspects. But it's an issue that raises major privacy concerns -- what one civil liberties expert says should concern all Americans. The bureau is expected to announce in coming days the awarding of a $1 billion, 10-year contract to help create the database that will compile an array of biometric information -- from palm prints to eye scans. Kimberly Del Greco, the FBI's Biometric Services section chief, said adding to the database is "important to protect the borders to keep the terrorists out, protect our citizens, our neighbors, our children so they can have good jobs, and have a safe country to live in." But it's unnerving to privacy experts. "It's the beginning of the surveillance society where you can be tracked anywhere, any time and all your movements, and eventually all your activities will be tracked and noted and correlated," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology and Liberty Project. The FBI already has 55 million sets of fingerprints on file. In coming years, the bureau wants to compare palm prints, scars and tattoos, iris eye patterns, and facial shapes. The idea is to combine various pieces of biometric information to positively identify a potential suspect. A lot will depend on how quickly technology is perfected, according to Thomas Bush, the FBI official in charge of the Clarksburg, West Virginia, facility where the FBI houses its current fingerprint database. Watch what the FBI hopes to gain » "Fingerprints will still be the big player," Bush, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division, told CNN. But he added, "Whatever the biometric that comes down the road, we need to be able to plug that in and play." First up, he said, are palm prints. 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. The 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. Nearby, at West Virginia University's Center for Identification Technology Research, researchers are already testing some of these technologies that will ultimately be used by the FBI. "The best increase in accuracy will come from fusing different biometrics together," said Bojan Cukic, the co-director of the center. But while law enforcement officials are excited about the possibilities of these new technologies, privacy advocates are upset the FBI will be collecting so much personal information. "People who don't think mistakes are going to be made I don't think fly enough," said Steinhardt. He said thousands of mistakes have been made with the use of the so-called no-fly lists at airports -- and that giving law enforcement widespread data collection techniques should cause major privacy alarms. "There are real consequences to people," Steinhardt said. Watch concerns over more data collection » You don't have to be a criminal or a terrorist to be checked against the database. More than 55 percent of the checks the FBI runs involve criminal background checks for people applying for sensitive jobs in government or jobs working with vulnerable people such as children and the elderly, according to the FBI. The FBI says it hasn't been saving the fingerprints for those checks, but that may change. The FBI plans a so-called "rap-back" service in which an employer could ask the FBI to keep the prints for an employee on file and let the employer know if the person ever has a brush with the law. The FBI says it will first have to clear hurdles with state privacy laws, and people would have to sign waivers allowing their information to be kept. Critics say people are being forced to give up too much personal information. But Lawrence Hornak, the co-director of the research center at West Virginia University, said it could actually enhance people's privacy. "It allows you to project your identity as being you," said Hornak. "And it allows people to avoid identity theft, things of that nature." Watch Hornak describe why he thinks it's a "privacy enhancer" » There remains the question of how reliable these new biometric technologies will be. A 2006 German study looking at facial recognition in a crowded train station found successful matches could be made 60 percent of the time during the day. But when lighting conditions worsened at night, the results shrank to a success rate of 10 to 20 percent. As work on these technologies continues, researchers are quick to admit what's proven to be the most accurate so far. "Iris technology is perceived today, together with fingerprints, to be the most accurate," said Cukic. But in the future all kinds of methods may be employed. Some researchers are looking at the way people walk as a possible additional means of identification. The FBI says it will protect all this personal data and only collect information on criminals and those seeking sensitive jobs. The ACLU's Steinhardt doesn't believe it will stop there. "This had started out being a program to track or identify criminals," he said. "Now we're talking about large swaths of the population -- workers, volunteers in youth programs. Eventually, it's going to be everybody." E-mail to a friend http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/02/04/fbi.biometrics/index.html?t= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RELAPSER Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllTheWrongWords Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Yes!! Theyre putting more data on people and will hopefully eliminate my privacy altogether with mandatory cameras in our homes!!! Hooray for government takeover!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest spectr Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 nothing to worry about.. nothing at all... We can trust the f.b.i. I mean our own government would never break the law, and if you have nothing to hide why should you be afraid? I mean no one here has anything to hide right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Jefe Uno Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_gooch Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 "We're living in a police state Fear behind each door Living in a police state State of marshal law " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ﻵﻶﻷﻸﻹﻺﻻﻼ Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Damn. I can't have that meth lab that I've always wanted now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Bueller Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Tell the FBI they can kiss my ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bruno Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 One of the times I was arrested the cops took an inventory of my tattoos and their "meanings." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeping secrets Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 If anyone.. fbi or not tries to shine an ultraviolent light in my eyes im going to kick them in the balls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocinhajj Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 geesh my body is half cover in tattoos..maybe take them all one day to take fotos and want to know what everyone means..ehhehe I would NOT tell them.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IOU Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Amazing. And it seems that with all these social networks that get people sharing all their info its almost an introduction to giving up your privacy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viperface Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 more WHACK news !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soupBDC Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Im about to go burn off my fingertips and palms. Brb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KM4RT Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 shit. but Google probably knows more about you that the FBI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skag Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Futures lookin' grim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~KRYLON2~ Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 shit they already got all that info from me when i got badged at the airport. i guess i wont be blowing up any buildings in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoes Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 I feel much safer already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILOTSMYBRAIN Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Now lets all stand around and look at each other till they've picked our pockets and left us naked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerFuct Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gat Bush Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Our children have a grim future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EGG Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 WE have a grim future, our kids have no future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Quickwood Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 i can hardly believe this is real. i don't think they have mine, yet. unless they can get them from the bank, they ask you to give a thumbprint sometimes when cashing checks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellow Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayfed Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 this is fucking scary. i can't believe this is actually for real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricitySucks Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 INFORM PEOPLE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricitySucks Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 if you care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
En Sabah Nur Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 nigga, when am i gonna leave my eyeball at a crime scene? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MekA_OnES? Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 HAHAHAHA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny ballbags Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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