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FBI To Spend $1B Expanding Fingerprint Database
mytrip and other readers alerted us to news that the FBI is about to announce the awarding of a $1B, 10-year contract to expand its fingerprint database to incorporate other biometrics — palm prints, iris scans, scars, tattoos, possibly facial shape — "Whatever the biometric that comes down the road, we need to be able to plug that in and play," an FBI spokesman is quoted. Barry Steinhardt of the ACLU sounded the cautionary note: "This had started out being a program to track or identify criminals. Now we're talking about large swaths of the population — workers, volunteers in youth programs. Eventually, it's going to be everybody."
Why bother with scars and tattoos? What we really is a National Semen Database just in case the criminal ejaculates all over the scene of the crime. The FBI could even use sperm banks as a front!
A collection of fingerprints doesn't strike me as particularly valuable. Now if you had a collection of fingerprints associated with people's names, that would be something interesting. Even if you found a way to record the name of the last person who held a penny before it returned to the bank - what exactly is so interesting about supermarket cashiers?
Wouldn't it be easier to just tattoo everyone with a number? Then anyone who is caught doing something "wrong" can be incarcerating in reeducation camps? Wouldn't this be a lot easier to do than to try getting everyone's biometrics over a long course of time? I mean, didn't Hitler have the idea down right, although it started out with only one section of society, and not everyone?
Expect the entire database to be for sale world-wide in weeks.
And buy some EDS shares NOW.
Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
The FBI will be awarding the 10 year, 1 billion dollar contract in the next few days to one of the large system integrators: IBM, Lockheed or Northrop. But within the next 6 months the biometric portion will be awarded for running the fingerprint database. The favorite is Cogent Systems (COGT) a leader in the biometric space. They run the biometric database for the US_VISIT program and other large scale fingerprint biometric identification systems around the world. See video about them http://www.cogentsystems.com/video.asp
If you've done nothing wrong ,you have nothing to fear. Just so long as they don't redifine what's wrong, with retro-active effect.
I will have a sig when the market demands it.
There are numerous way around these methods of identification:
palm prints - can be removed in an acid bath and can be faked with latex or surgical silicone. Even systems that incorporate a variation on live finger detection can be fooled.
iris scans - Can be changed through the use of contact lenses.
Scars - a difficult one, but plastic surgury, make-up and latex can make them vanish or even create temporary ones.
Tattoos - Laser surgury can remove them, they can also be altered beyond recognition by professionals.
Possibly facial shape - can be altered through a variety of techniques
Sure, it would identify the average US citizen, but it would be useless against organised crime and terrorism.
ALTER TABLE fingerprints ADD BLOB;
Yeah, also make sure you do not touch your tinfoil hat without wearing leather gloves, else they'll be reading your fingerprints off it using their invisible mind rays.
Few criminals leave their eyes at the scene of a crime. So, why are iris scans needed if you already have fingerprints?
I don't care what other people do peacefully. Our laws encourage illegal behavior, and we facilitate violence by patrolling non-violent and non-criminal offenses. It is our fault that we drive people to violent behavior in many, if not all cases. The idea that we can allow the government to track us by DNA, fingerprints, sperm count, whatever, is simply absurd. It is absolutely NONE OF THE FENDER GOVERNMENT'S BUSINESS. The FBI does not deserve, nor warrant, any of this information from American citizens. In fact, we should slash their budget by at least 50% for at least 5-10 years to remind them who is in charge. Where do they get off thinking they can waste tax payer money on something so stupid?
We are one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. Back to you with the weather, Bob!
Of course the other agenda they have been working on is to ensure that everyone has done something wrong. Let someone borrow a DVD? Watched a match in a church hall on a big screen? Sorted out a neighbour's computer, and his wife gives you some cakes in return ... and neither of you declare the payment in kind on your tax return.
They can always find some excuse to bring you in if they look hard enough.
It saddens me to hear that you are not using MindGuard. Using only a tinfoil hat does not offer full protection!
c++;
Just hook up their database to all the CCTV/webcams people leave open/public/unsecured and run the two programs they came out with in the last year that can read fingerprints and irises from ~10 feet away. Patch in the program that they're working on that is supposed to detect abnormal behavior based on visual cues (they're still trying to come up with statistically significant values for the social norm ranges, but if betas are good enough for google, they're good enough for me!). Really fine tune that program so that it reads personal norms, not social norms. Shake hard twice, add three ice cubes and a orange slice, and you'll have a drink I like to call when paranoia and reality collide.
...can it be called SciFi if it isn't actually fictitious?
Just -1, Troll talking to another.
You were probably only considering conspiracy theory type malice. But what you really have to be afraid of, is your neighbour Frank, the cop, who is jealous of your wife and would like to have you out of the way.
Lots of governement employees will have access rights to such a huge database. Human nature tells us that some of them will abuse the system.
If this project goes as well for the FBI as its Virtual Case File program, which was only a small fraction of the cost of this monster even after all they money they spent trying to salvage it, I don't think we have much to worry about.
As much as we bemoan the devolution that's going on inside the government, it has the side benefit of keeping some of the things they're trying to do in check. Will Rogers and I are both glad we don't get all of the government we pay for.
That's $27 in decimal.
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master." -Pravin Lal
It's not about being invisible, it's about human nature.
The database will be -
1. Imperfect
2. Abused by government employees
3. Illegally accessed and sold on for profit
1 means you'd get your name dragged through the muck anyway and have LESS chance of getting off, even if you didn't commit the crime.
2 that some people will get stalked by crazy ex spouses/lovers/stalkers/whatever. There will also be cases of it facilitating some petty authoritarian's revenge schemes
3 is a big hello to massive identity theft.
This is not a fucking game.
I think the spokesman has been reading too many Microsoft boxes. FBI:"If my USB drive is 'plug and play' why cant a thumbprint, or a tattoo, or a piece of ear. Heck they do it on CSI all the time!"
I'm all for catching bad guys, but "plug and play", you've got to be fucking kidding.
(tee hee I said but plug)
that they have had better luck with cameras than was thought possible.
Overall, a simple tattoo can be described. But if they are electing to keep the biometrics that they are keeping, it would say that they will be making heavier use of cameras. My guess is that we will see a new law proposed (and probably passed since the dems are as yellow-liver as the pubs are corrupt) that allows the feds access to ALL streaming camera (banks, grocery stores, streets, stop lights, toll bothes, etc) 100% of the time. Patriot allowed access only when chasing a terrorist, but this next bill will say that all businesses must give 100% access no matter what.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Absolutelly wonderful, this will work perfectly.
After all, Terrorists are well known for co-operating fully with the authorities in providing their biometric data.
Oh wait....
To say Accenture is a corrupt criminal organization is a little out of line. They are a multi-billion dollar international consulting agency, not the mob or Yakuza (not to say they don't have connections, but then, when you're that big who doesn't). And I don't think Accenture has any part in the FBI biometric database.
Although I am always cynical about Wikipedia entries and who really edits them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accenture
Also, the US already fingerprints all incoming foreigners. Japan only adopted it recently because of US pressure. I am pretty sure the Japanese government follows the US constitution better than the US right now.
When I was in elementary school, the local police came to school one day to fingerprint all of us "in case we ever got kidnapped" (this would have been around 1984 or so - I remember the TV movie "Adam" had recently come out so parents were in an uproar about us getting abducted).
Not realizing how ridiculous this was at the time or the significance of it, I allowed myself to be inked and fingerprinted.
What are the odds that those fingerprints have made their way into the FBI database?
There's an Ayn Rand quote about how many laws are intentionally designed to create criminals. So if there are sufficient laws that one cannot reasonably avoid breaking them, and thus becoming a criminal, then everybody's biometrics are fair game.
I bet I could get a much larger, completed database, for less then half of that...
Just put some homeland security squeeze on Disney, and offer them a pittance, and buy their database. Done. Largest fingerprint database in the world of public citizens and criminals.... Every walk of life loves Disney World...
Could I have my million dollar consulting fee now?
3 degrees of separation from Vladimir Putin
They've already started getting fingerprints on people that aren't just criminals. I was at sea world a year ago and they were doing hand scans of parents and their children before they got to go in. Since I was a Canadian citizen, I was exempt from being in their mass database, but it was still shocking.
Currently a DNA database can only contain non-coding DNA. For 2 reasons :
A DNA/ID database is mainly used to distinguish between individuals. Thus one would prefer DNA sequence that vary a lot. Non-coding portion of the DNA may contain a lot more variations between individual.
A lab can give global information about the sample that are available without DNA analysis (male vs. female, human vs. other). A lab can analyse non-coding DNA for markers, which can subsequently be used to match other samples in a DB (marker x, y, z present, possible sibling of sample containing x, z and w). A lab CANNOT analyse for coding DNA (Suspect has blue eyes, is short, caucasian ethnic group, has a cardiac malformation and a slight probability for psychosis).
Of course, your government could end up changing its laws and make it mandatory to extract and store phenotypic information from coding genes. With the speed of computing power increase, by 50 years from now, it would probably be possible to have a database storing full genomes of individuals, with laws requiring that no consent is needed to extract that information and that any doctor refusing to collaborate on ethics and Hippocratic oath's ground will immediately lose his/her license.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]