US police storing facial image data of 117 million Americans, report says

[TrumpIsPresident]

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/...m-report-says/

More than 117 million Americans, representing more than half of the US adult population, are currently in a police facial recognition system, raising questions about privacy and security, according to a report from the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology.

The report, released this week, is "the most comprehensive survey to date of law enforcement face recognition and the risks that it poses to privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights," the authors stated. Researchers found that while the FBI has one facial recognition system, state and local police departments nationwide have built their own, often unregulated, software.

The FBI has used facial recognition in investigations since at least 2011, which has successfully helped detain violent criminals, the report stated. At least 26 states allow law enforcement to perform searches in their databases of driver's license and ID photos, researchers found.

Comparatively, FBI fingerprint and DNA databases are primarily made up of information from criminal arrests or investigations. Allowing law enforcement agencies to run facial recognition searches using driver's license photo databases means the FBI, for the first time in history, is tapping a biometric network composed of Americans who have never been in trouble with the law, the report stated.

[...]

Researchers examined 90 law enforcement agencies. Of those, 52 reported using facial recognition currently or in the past. And of those 52, only one offered evidence of auditing officers' searches for misuse. None required warrants, and many did not require an officer to suspect a person of committing a crime before using the system to identify that person.

No states have passed any in-depth laws regulating law enforcement's use of facial recognition systems, the report found.

[...]

Tracking innocent people to find the bad ones with the potentially bonus of making everyone easier to catch when they stop being innocent?

Good or bad?

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No warrant required to process your bio-metrics through a database?

Sounds bad, but aside from the law enforcement angle is it any different than what Facebook and Google do?

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"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us." -Agent Coulson

How soon is this day coming?

[Asiwassaying]

This is fine. I say we give DNA samples too like how one state already does. And all our passwords and bank info. I'm installing a camera in my home with a direct feed to govt agency's so they can watch me all the time.

What do I need privacy for? It's not a right ofor anything

[Deleted]

It's here already and has been for some time

War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.
INGSOC of Oceania

The very notion that this is a topic that we can discuss, is a testament to how far from it that we actually are.

[Independent voter]

I don't like how cameras are everywhere these days. If you pick your nose in public odds are it was captured on video, I know I'm not supposed to pick my nose, or if you scratch your nutts.

I'm not worried about the "big brother" thing because you either trust the goberment or you don't. If you don't trust it, you might as well shop for another country.

Britain is supposed to have the most cameras in public places, I think it was done in response to the Irish Republican Army bombings long ago. In the new age of terrorism I'm sure it's served them well.

[Deleted]

Be careful of what you say, they ARE watching.

Well, seeing as we would likely be classified under the proletariat we really don't have to fear such a thing. Not to mention, as the main character also discovers during the book, the system wasn't actually as expansive or effective, as it was supposed to be believed to be.

We aren't even worth the time to investigate when it comes to such things, because we are too lazy and dumb to actually do anything about the system, which is something that a lot of people tend to not pick when reading the book.

[I Push Buttons]

Violating your privacy lol? By accessing a photo already in the possession of the government that you voluntarily gave to them?

The paranoia today is absurd.

[Deleted]

The paranoia today is absurd.

Paranoia is just as bad as blind trust.

[TrumpIsPresident]

Violating your privacy lol? By accessing a photo already in the possession of the government that you voluntarily gave to them?

The paranoia today is absurd.

Its more of a question with how the data is being used.

The assumption behind having your photo taken for a drivers licence is so that it can be validated that the licence belongs to the person holding it.

The privacy issue a hand is the government taking that photo and then using it after the fact for something totally different that, currently, nobody gave consent to at the time the photo was taken.

Remember the whole meta-data retention problem? ..its like that.

[I Push Buttons]

Its more of a question with how the data is being used.

The assumption behind having your photo taken for a drivers licence is so that it can be validated that the licence belongs to the person holding it.

The privacy issue a hand is the government taking that photo and then using it after the fact for something totally different that, currently, nobody gave consent to at the time the photo was taken.

Remember the whole meta-data retention problem? ..its like that.

It says in the OP what its used for... Facial recognition software.

And the government already has pretty much everything about you in existence, including the picture of your face (which is now simply being used to help in crime investigation in addition to being used to verify your identity when ID is necessary).

Do you pay taxes? Ok well they know where you work, how much you make, where you live, etc. Do you drive a car (legally)? Ok they know the make, the model, the year, the color, your license plate number, etc. Do you own property (land/homes/buildings)? Ok they know all of it, where it is, what its worth, etc (so you can pay taxes on it). Do you have guns that require registration, ok they know how many, what types, etc.

HIPAA, the thing that protects your medical records, confidentiality, etc... Well it also specifically allows police and the government to access your medical records without a warrant. Or if you are one of the 119 million Americans who has medicare or medicaid, they already have it...

So people getting upset this thing in particular is fucking stupid.

[TrumpIsPresident]

It says in the OP what its used for... Facial recognition software.

So people getting upset this thing in particular is fucking stupid.

What its used for is secondary to the fact that government is a system of laws and checks & balances.

If you signed away your identify to be used for any purposes when you supplied your photo then it would be a moot point.

But the matter is that people gave up their photograph for one purpose and government decided "hey this information is sitting around lets make use of it".

There was no legislation to make that decision and no regulation to manage it afterwards, that's the problem.

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And I don't think anybody is getting upset about it, I mean you don't see anybody rioting or firebombing a DMV or crying "wahh my triggers" as is per normal these days when people get upset.

There's just discussion - which is good because government is an unruly child that needs to constantly be told how to act correctly.

[Deleted]

You can always wear masks under your freedom of expression rights.

There's also the possibility of non state organisations collecting your info on files such as big business.