Tana Ganeva reports: The FBI claims that their fingerprint database (IAFIS) is the “largest biometric database in the world,” containing records for over a hundred million people. But that’s nothing compared to the agency’s plans for Next Generation Identification (NGI), a massive, billion-dollar upgrade that will hold iris scans, photos searchable with face recognition technology, palm prints, and measures of gait and voice…
Category: U.S.
IL: ‘Drano’ law an invasion of privacy
Have we reached the point as a society where our grandmothers have to show ID and sign a log book to buy a bottle of Drano? Apparently, lawmakers in Springfield, including Marengo Democrat Jack Franks, thought the answer was yes. They passed a new law that requires anyone who buys caustic and noxious substances, which…
WikiLeaks Backers Lose Bid to Keep Twitter Accounts From U.S. Prosecutors
Tom Schoenberg reports: Three WikiLeaks backers lost their bid to keep information on them collected from their Twitter Inc. accounts from being turned over to U.S. prosecutors who are investigating the group’s publication of classified information. U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady in Alexandria, Virginia, yesterday denied a request by the backers that the information sought…
Originalism and Civil Damages for Fourth Amendment Violations
One of my favorite deep thinkers, Yogi Berra, once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you may wind up someplace else.” With that in mind, I recommend reading Orin Kerr’s commentary on the history of civil damages for violations of search and seizure protections. If, like me, you are not a lawyer nor…