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Interpol Pushing World Facial Recognition Database

The Register is reporting that according to some reports, Interpol will soon be pushing for a world-wide facial recognition database at the borders of all member nations. "The UK already has airport gates equipped with such technology, intended to remove the need for a human border guard to check that a passenger's face matches the one recorded in his or her passport. According to the Guardian, Interpol database chief Mark Branchflower believes that his organization should set up a database of facial-recognition records to operate alongside its existing photo, fingerprint and DNA files."

46 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. There Already Is One by ewhac · · Score: 5, Interesting
    It's called "FaceBook".

    Why do you think they have that "tagging" feature for the photos? Didn't you know all this time that you've been training their face recognition database?

    Schwab

    1. Re:There Already Is One by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 3, Informative

      Here's a fairly balanced article on the CIA/Facebook connection.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:There Already Is One by theaveng · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Arrest him! On Facebook it says he's a Libertarian. We can't have these free-thinkers running around!"

      --
      FOX NEWS.com should be BANNED from television and internet. Have the Congress take it over and give us Truespeak.
    3. Re:There Already Is One by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Arrest him! On Facebook it says he's a Libertarian. We can't have these free-thinkers running around!"

      Once upon a time commitment to American principles made one a patriot. Now blind support of all government policies is required.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    4. Re:There Already Is One by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is why everyone should use goatse as their facebook image.

      "Sir, according to the records at the CIA this guy is a huge asshole."

      --
      It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
    5. Re:There Already Is One by viridari · · Score: 2, Funny

      That does it. I'm uploading a bunch of pictures of politicians and tagging them with my name.

    6. Re:There Already Is One by OldSoldier · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I try to envision the right model for security and privacy as small town America. In this model everyone knows everyone else and for the most part, when you see your neighbor, he/she sees you.

      Extrapolating this to the modern world, a world-wide facial recognition database would be compatible if the following additional conditions were met:
      a) everyone had access to it (Everyone knows everyone else)
      b) it was trivially easy to see where the cameras were (when you see me, I see you)
      c) cameras were only in a relatively few number of places. (when I'm behind "closed doors" I'm out of public view)

      I'm not convinced governments can abide by these above rules, but if they could I'd be OK living in a world-wide "small town".

    7. Re:There Already Is One by k1e0x · · Score: 4, Informative

      Once upon a time commitment to American principles made one a patriot. Now blind support of all government policies is required.

      Yeah, the DHS had a pamphlet out that listed the Gadsden Flag as a symbol of domestic terrorism.

      The line between patriotism and nationalism is a thin one.. but I believe that a nationalist is a blind patriot.

      It really disturbs me when I hear John McCain talk about "Country first".. That is absolutely UN-American. Americans believe the individual needs are placed about the needs of the state. China is a place where the needs of the state come before those of the individual people, not America.

      --
      Bringing liberty to the masses. - http://freetalklive.com/
    8. Re:There Already Is One by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'd be OK living in a world-wide "small town".

      Me, I like to live in a world-wide "big city". I don't know if you've ever lived in "small town America", but if you happen to be a different color, ethnicity or sexual orientation from most of your other "small town neighbors" life can be an absolute hell. The problem is, there are lots of stupid, small-minded people in small towns AND big cities. But in small towns, where "everybody knows you" those stupid people can really fuck things up for you, whereas in a "big city" you can move to a part of town where there are others who are more openminded. Or (and this is important) you can just be anonymous.

      This notion that somehow there is this suddenly emergent need for greater security is a complete load of bullshit being perpetrated on us by people who want to use this "security" to become more powerful.

      If anything, I'd suggest that privacy and anonymity is more important now than it ever has been. I'll go a step further and say that cameras and databases are about the worst way to make a society "secure". The only people who become more "secure" are those in the security regime.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    9. Re:There Already Is One by k1e0x · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Oh its ridiculous. The Gadsden flag is a US flag and for a time was the OFFICIAL US flag of the 13 colonies. (denoted by the 13 rattles on the snakes tail.)

      Domestic Terrorists

      Anti-Government Groups

      Often associated with unorganized militias, the Anti-Government movement actually embraces a much larger variety of groups and causes. The extreme fringe believes that the U.S. government is either the enemy or has been subverted by the enemy and must be actively defended against.

      There is nothing wrong proclaiming that you want to defend your rights from government. The prefatory clause to the second amendment also states that the local militia is a requirement to security of a free state.

      Anti-Government Issues and Beliefs

      Gun Control is a conspiracy to enslave us starting with the removal of our ability to either defend ourselves or forcefully change our government.

      No we wouldn't want people to be able to defend themselves.

      The first ten amendments of The Constitution are God given and all others are temporary, invalid or outright fraudulent.

      Totally wrong interpretation of the Constitution. The Constitution is written in negative law. The Constitution does not GIVE the people anything at all. Paper can not grant rights. The first 10 amendments are laws that PREVENT the government from abusing the rights people already have. It is a a restriction on government not on the people and grants nothing to anyone.

      All judicial authority resides with the people. The jury, not the Judge, directs trials and can nullify laws they do not approve of.

      I can see how law enforcement would screw this up. They worship judges as gods.. you know those lawyers in black dresses. Truth be told a judge is not the *boss* of a trial, he is only the referee between disputing parties. The power does lie with the people, and rightfully so, for is it not right for the people to be especially true for a Representative Republic as opposed to a True Democracy.?

      U.S. sovereignty is being surrendered to the U.N., World Court, and World Bank, with the U.S. becoming an economic region of this New World Order.

      Anti-Government activists often believe they have never accepted U.S. citizenship or can renounce it.

      Federal and State governments do not have the legal authority to levy taxes or interfere with travel or private enterprise by requiring licenses or regulating activity or conduct.

      There are people who believe this stuff.. they might even have a point.. Regardless, why does the DHS think someone holding these beliefs is suddenly a "domestic terrorist"?

      It's just absurd.. the war on terror is too vague.. it will never end, they will just make up "new" terrorists.

      --
      Bringing liberty to the masses. - http://freetalklive.com/
  2. A big book of faces.. by onion2k · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A big database, kind of like a 'book', of everyone's face? Maybe with a stack of personal information? And make it really hard to take your details off?

    Like we'd ever fall for that!

    1. Re:A big book of faces.. by daveatneowindotnet · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That would be doomsday.

  3. All Your Face... by Nick+Driver · · Score: 5, Funny

    All Your Face Are Belong To Us!

    1. Re:All Your Face... by TheSambassador · · Score: 2, Funny

      All Your Face Are Belong To Us!

      The justification? Someone set us up the bomb...

  4. Alternate Applications by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder how long it will be before this technology is utilized outside the airport gates...like, for example, with all of the myriad CCTV cameras currently infesting London.

    What sort of resolution does this technology require? Could the technology be used on the CCTV images?

    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:Alternate Applications by BlowHole666 · · Score: 5, Funny

      What sort of resolution does this technology require? Could the technology be used on the CCTV images?

      I wonder if this could also help with my porn collection and help me figure who's face is in the random porn pictures I have.

      --
      I smoked pot once. But I DID NOT inhale. Will you hire me?
    2. Re:Alternate Applications by larry+bagina · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's facial recognition software.

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

    3. Re:Alternate Applications by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 2, Informative

      This technology doesn't work well enough for CCTV.

      Sure about that? FTFA:

      The attraction of facial-recognition records, as opposed to conventional mugshots, is that automated searching is possible. A specially-equipped airport gate - or even, in some circumstances, a security camera - would be able to sound an alert every time a person on the Interpol watch list went past.

      --
      ____

      ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

  5. Wrong end by larry+bagina · · Score: 4, Funny

    They need to develop ass recognition software, so they can track down the goatse guy and make him pay for all the suffering he's inflicted upon us.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  6. what is the current accurcy rate? by peter303 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Even 1% false positives or negatives in a huge application will lead to lots of problems.
    An auxiliary question is whether machine accuracy exceeds humans. People make mistakes too.

    1. Re:what is the current accurcy rate? by TheLazySci-FiAuthor · · Score: 2, Informative

      Even 1% false positives or negatives in a huge application will lead to lots of problems...

      Ah yes, the base rate fallacy (aka, the terrorist fallacy).

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_rate_fallacy

      One of those obvious things that is so hard to convey.

      Interesting that the 'example' used in the wikipedia article is so near to what is happening in reality.

    2. Re:what is the current accurcy rate? by rpmayhem · · Score: 5, Informative

      I work for a local law enforcement agency that uses facial recognition systems. I don't work in that department, but I'm familiar with the systems. A few years ago, it was still really bad, but it's made large jumps in accuracy since that time. However, we usually have humans operating the cameras and computers, so it's always double checked. Everyone who gets booked into the jail is added to the facial recognition database. Then the officers on the road can use systems in their cars to take pictures of people and find their identity (a lot of people give us fake IDs, and a lot of those people have visited us before). Also, we have to ask permission before taking someone's picture on the street.

      Anyway, even at the current level of accuracy, it can't operate really well without human assistance.

    3. Re:what is the current accurcy rate? by Fulcrum+of+Evil · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm uncertain - are you arguing that he's fallen for the fallacy or pointing it out?

      --
      "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
    4. Re:what is the current accurcy rate? by TheLazySci-FiAuthor · · Score: 2, Informative

      I'm uncertain - are you arguing that he's fallen for the fallacy or pointing it out?

      I am just trying to point it out in support of his statement...and I'm not doing a very good job, evidently :(

    5. Re:what is the current accurcy rate? by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 2

      Even 1% false positives or negatives in a huge application will lead to lots of problems.

      So, they screw up once in a while and get Buttle rather than Tuttle. Do you think the UK (or US, since it will soon be in the States too, I'm sure) even cares about ruining the occasional person's life? Besides, they'll get a receipt for it.

  7. I'm not sure... by sshuber · · Score: 2, Interesting

    that this would even be a good thing for the governments involved. What about covert operatives working for a government that travel to another country? They would be instantly flagged if any one nation had the knowledge of their covert status.

  8. In other news... by R2.0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Supplies of Groucho glasses reach a all time low...

    --
    "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
  9. Opt-out Where You Can by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Informative

    On the New Hampshire Driver's License application/renewal form, there's a checkbox on the back that requires the State to delete your photo from its database after making the license. (Now that they're mailing the licenses though I have to wonder about their backup strategies.)

    Do it where you can and get your legislature to require your DMV to do so if necessary. Also get them to reject RealID. If you can't, move here.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  10. Obligatory by Nerdposeur · · Score: 5, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our international, face-recognizing over... Aw, wait a minute! No, that's creepy.

  11. Obligatory John Woo... by TiggertheMad · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...I want to take his FACE OFF...

    No more drugs for this man!

    So, jesting aside, how will this work with cosmetic surgery? Will celebrities getting cosmetic work abroad no longer be identified correctly? Will actual terrorists suddenly become interested in elective procedures just to fool the system? How will the system deal with the fact that people change as they age? Interesting questions.

    I wonder if this will become a legitimate tool for law enforcement, or if it will be yet another big brother tool.

    --

    HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
  12. Ironic by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Seems ironic to me that we have the international law-enforcement agencies as well as a ton of cross-border data and system sharing agreements all intended to stop people from crossing the borders themselves. They want information about us to be world wide but they don't want us to be world wide.

    --
    When information is power, privacy is freedom.
  13. Not quite Big Brother by Jabbrwokk · · Score: 2, Informative

    The summary and the Register article make it sound like Interpol wants to keep a record of everyone with a passport. This does not appear to be the case, according to the original article which the Register ripped off and rewrote.

    Senior figures want a system that lets immigration officials capture digital images of passengers and immediately cross-check them against a database of pictures of terror suspects, international criminals and fugitives.

    Not that I like the scheme, but it doesn't sound quite as police-state as some might think. My picture is already taken all over the place if I go to the airport, this would take my picture and cross-check it with a database of known criminals, terrorists and fugitives.

    1. Re:Not quite Big Brother by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Possible outcomes:
      1. "Well, we have not caught any terrorists yet, but we spent a lot on this system. Let's use it to catch people who don't clean up after their dogs."
      2. "You have been identified as a terrorist by the system, so you will need to remain in custody until a human can verify that you are not a terrorist."
      3. "This system works so well, we should use it domestically!"
      4. "Here's a list of people known to be against the war and probably planning to attend a protest in Washington DC; they shouldn't be allowed to fly."

      Surveillance is a slippery slope.

      --
      Palm trees and 8
    2. Re:Not quite Big Brother by davegravy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      My picture is already taken all over the place if I go to the airport, this would take my picture and cross-check it with a database of known criminals, terrorists and fugitives.

      ...and store your picture in a non-terrorist database, and in the event that you join a revolutionary movement to overthrow your highly corrupt government move your entry into the terrorist list, providing a convenient means to locate and apprehend you. And I don't necessarily mean your government is corrupt today, just that it could one day be.

      Your picture may be taken all over the place already, but citing this as a reason why the proposed system isn't big-brother-eque doesn't make much sense. If people already routinely defacated on your doorstep, would you be apathetic about a government proposal to defecate on your doorstep?

  14. Terrorist face recognition! by Banekartr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Does this facial recognition come with x-ray vision? How will it help with this? http://www.imcworldwide.org/blog/afghanistan/uploaded_images/IMG_0056-705316.JPG

    1. Re:Terrorist face recognition! by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 3, Informative

      The 9/11 hijackers were not dressed in traditional middle eastern clothing. They were wearing run-of-the-mill business-casual clothing, which is why they were so successful -- they looked like normal travelers, and drew no attention to themselves at the airport.

      --
      Palm trees and 8
    2. Re:Terrorist face recognition! by gnick · · Score: 4, Funny

      Solution? Demand that all terrorists wear traditional middle eastern clothing. Even the abortion-clinic and McVeigh types.

      It's not fool-proof, I admit -A lot of non-terrorists also wear traditional middle eastern clothing, and some may cry "profiling", but it's a good first step. Then, at security, the screeners can ask anyone in the right mode of dress, "Are you a terrorist?" The ones that say "Yes" are then arrested.

      And then I can finally make it through line without taking off my shoes. Flawless.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
  15. Well, I'm screwed by interstellar_donkey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The Federal government has my photo from my passport stored somewhere.

    It has my DNA from my stint in the Army.

    It has has my fingerprints from security clearance applications and several FBI background checks I've had to go through to be a teacher.

    My only solace is, in all of my photos for federal documents I'm frowning like an NFL star posing for a picture, and on all my Facebook pictures I'm smiling.

    Though when it comes down to it, if the government goes to crap, I'm screwed.

    --
    The Internet is generally stupid
  16. Re:What if I get a new scar? by Stewie241 · · Score: 3, Funny

    How many times have you been mauled by a bear in the past 10 years?

  17. I can see it working now by SupremoMan · · Score: 2, Funny

    Beard: False

    Next();

    Beard: False

    Next();

    Beard: True

    CheckOsamaBinLaden();

  18. 1984 by andy1307 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear Brits: 1984 was a novel, not an instruction manual.

    1. Re:1984 by megamerican · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Incorrect. 1984 is what Orwell thought the future would be like in the year 1984.

      I always thought that Orwell was an optimist.

      --
      If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
    2. Re:1984 by Catil · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They are way behind their timeplan but they started a crash program in 2001 to speed things up.

    3. Re:1984 by hansamurai · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And so was Atlas Shrugged, I'm waiting for John Galt to interrupt my regularly scheduled program any day now.

  19. Re:What if I get a new scar? by compro01 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Unless those are unreasonably large scars, they shouldn't make any difference. Facial recognition typically relies on the size/placement of the facial bones, which generally don't change significantly, barring extreme trauma.

    Though the people advocating this need to be sent home to read up on base rate negligence before they continue speaking.

    --
    upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
  20. Re:Now who is laughing? by MRe_nl · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Growing up in Malawi as a young Dutch boy, I once (age seven or so) asked my nanny, a South-African woman, how she could tell other African people apart, as they all looked the same to me. Not the one's I knew personally of course, just the other 99.9%.
    This is the kind of question only a child can and will ask, and after laughing, she confided in me she had the same thought about Europeans (that they all looked alike).

    Somehow, I don't think software is going to have this problem, allthough the prejudices of it's programmers might seep in.

    All you who say "THEY all look alike", don't worry, THEY think exactly the same thing about you!

    --
    "Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"