Back in 2011, this site linked to a post by EFF on the FBI’s “Next Generation Identification” biometric database. At the time, the NGI was not a secret database, and the FBI was bragging about it.
That was then, this is now. At the beginning of the month, NextGov reported:
The FBI wants to block individuals from knowing if their information is in a massive repository of biometric records, which includes fingerprints and facial scans, if the release of information would “compromise” a law enforcement investigation.
The FBI’s biometric database, known as the “Next Generation Identification System,” gathers a wide scope of information, including palm prints, fingerprints, iris scans, facial and tattoo photographs, and biographies for millions of people.
On Thursday, the Justice Department agency plans to propose the database be exempt from several provisions of the Privacy Act — legislation that requires federal agencies to share information about the records they collect with the individual subject of those records, allowing them to verify and correct them if needed.
Read more on NextGov. As Derrick Broze explains:
If you are an outspoken activist, have ever been detained, or arrested, your biometrics are more than likely contained in this database. If you have ever applied for a driver’s license or state identification card you are likely in this database. Millions of innocent people are having their biometrics scooped up and logged into another database that federal agents will have unrestricted access to. When combined with cellphone surveillance, aerial surveillance, and every other surveillance tool available to the local, state, and federal agencies, a clear picture of a draconian Surveillance State emerges.
h/t, Joe Cadillic