Slashdot Mirror
Leaked Document Reveals Upcoming Biometric Experiments At US Customs
sarahnaomi sends word of new biometric technologies coming to U.S. entry points. "The facial recognition pilot program launched last week by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which civil liberties advocates say could lead to new potentially privacy-invading programs, is just the first of three biometric experiments that the feds are getting ready to launch. The three experiments involve new controversial technologies like iris and face scanner kiosks, which CBP plans to deploy at the Mexican border, and facial recognition software, according to a leaked document obtained by Motherboard. All three pilots are part of a broader Customs and Border Protection program to modernize screenings at American entry and exit ports, including at the highly politicized Mexican border, with the aid of new biometric technologies. The program is known as Apex Air Entry and Exit Re-Engineering Project, according to the leaked slides. These pilot programs have the goal of "identifying and implementing" biometric technologies that can be used at American borders to improve the immigration system as well as US national security, according to the slides."
The Global Entry kiosks use finger prints and facial recognition to verify your identity already.
I don't see how this is a privacy concern. If you are traveling via plane, you already need to show a government issued photo id, which means the government already has your mug-shot.
So, everyone expects to be perfectly anonymous at a Customs Checkpoint, eh?
Really? Going to a place where the guards on both sides of the border check your identity routinely, and people expect anonymity as a matter of course?
Could we perhaps find something more important to be outraged about? Like LSU's baseball team embarrassing themselves last night? Or the morning coffee being cold? Or the birds waking my wife up early (therefore grumpy)?
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
Build-a-Wall: that is stupid. it didnt work in berlin, it didnt work in china, it doesnt work in Israel, and its just a single donation to a government contractor.
Immigration Reform: Powerball odds now more promising than reasonable reform legislation. The plutocracy does not share your interest in expanding the number of homebuilders and salad harvesters eligible for social security, medicare, healthcare, and especially disability compensation.
Lets turn the place into Half Life 2: Yes please. Drones, Bioscanners, those lasers that sweep over people, xrays, drug sniffing robots, tasers, Terminators, and lots of plastic handcuffs and temporary prisons with indefinite detention. This system works perfectly to avoid the problem, ignore our melting pot ethos, and turn a profit for a quantifiable number of military and defense related government contractors. Tune in next year when we roll this shit out at stadiums, train stations, bus stops, and shopping malls.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Come on, people, be realistic. Slashdotters are the foremost people complaining about antiquated low-tech approaches to problems and how they could be sped up, and probably half of us already use fingerprint or face recognition on our devices. Yet we're also among the people most aware of the negative impacts of such systems and the potential for abuse.
This isn't random scanning, or general surveillance - this is a Customs checkpoint, where their ENTIRE JOB is to know who is passing in and out of the country. This is one of the ONLY places where such technology is justified. The danger isn't the open explicit mandated checkpoints, it's the misuse of this technology at every commuter station and the entrances to entertainment or shopping venues - and the availability of government-collected information (which we are coerced to provide) to commercial interests for non-public purposes. Though on a practical level it's more likely to go broke because someone got access to my finances through stupid commercial activity.
I think that might have been more relevant back in the 17th through 19th centuries, even for most of the 20th, when there were plenty of jobs for low or limited skill workers. Nowadays western countries are having to try very hard to maximize the numbers going into education because without a degree you won't get much work as a result of hugely increased automation that shows no signs of stopping. For better or for worse, that's just how it is.
In this new environment a massive influx of people without much in the way of qualification becomes a burden moreso than a positive addition, even if they're willing to work their asses off, as most of them are. Meanwhile all they're actually doing is competing for the crap jobs with the most disadvantaged in whatever country and driving down salaries for those that need them the most. I may have missed something here, but I don't think so.
If the US really wanted to address this problem it would legalise most drugs besides the nastiest ones (added bonus of prison populations falling through the floor and people not being stigmatised for life, leading to greater earning potential, plus taxes on drugs) and provide incentives for its neighbours to the south to deal with corruption within their own governments. I've become firmly convinced that 90% of the causes for impoverishment on a national level are plain old graft. Wealth isn't being shared as it is in developed countries.
Anyway yeah. My two cents.
I can understand mandatory voting, however I will only accept it if there is a non of the above option. Should non of the above receive the most votes then a new election has to be held and none of those candidates can run in the second election.
I figure it will take one or two run off elections and the hardliners on either side will disappear for more moderate people.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Just abolish Primaries and changing the voting method to something proportional or ranked so that they can vote for more than one. Then force all of them to run at once and have all the hardliners, moderates and even 3rd parties all on the ticket and in this way, voting for 3rd party isn't throwing your vote away anymore (But to be honest, voting for one you don't want is throwing your vote away anyways which is what they have already been doing).
Also, force immediate redistricting and force it to be done by an independent 3rd party or preferably, an open source computer program that all have access to along with the raw data used to draw districts and a seed number so all can verify the results at home. This way the states wouldn't be as gerrymandered as they are in my state (North Carolina). In my state, 1 republican vote has as much weight as 4 Democrat votes due to the way districts are drawn.
Then go as far as banning all government officials from working outside of government after serving even a portion of a term as they are already getting paid and benefits for life. Working for the government should be seen as the endgame, not as a stepping stone to a consulting or lobbying job. And would also force them to forfeit all interests and stock in any company for both them and their significant other before they can be sworn in as to remove any conflict of interests and also bar them from gifts from any company.
Also ban all donations from any groups, all donations must only come from individuals and the limit is capped at what a normal person could reasonably afford. This includes banning Unions, PACs, SuperPACs, Corporations and all. Also, any donations received must be returned to the donors or given to the government after an election, all officials are banned from profiting in any way from said donations.
There is much more I could do, but the general gist is to make the votes actually matter while minimizing the effect money has over the process and those in it.