It is just like something you saw in the movie Gattaca with the security doing eye scans of individuals and palm images being used to enter buildings. The FBI wants to go futuristic with a new deal designed to stop criminals with the latest technology.
CNN is reporting that the the bureau is expected to announce in coming days the awarding of a $1 billion, 10-year contract to help create the database that will compile an array of biometric information -- from palm prints to eye scans. It already has 55 million sets of fingerprints on file. In coming years, the bureau wants to compare palm prints, scars and tattoos, iris eye patterns, and facial shapes. The idea is to combine various pieces of biometric information to positively identify a potential suspect.
The purpose of all these extra databases is to offer better protection for citizens from terrorists and everyday criminals. Of course, the technology will still have to be developed, but palm prints are first to be added. Several countries already use the technology for security measures.
Critics are already out complaining about privacy issues because of the amount of personal information that the FBI will collect.
"It's the beginning of the surveillance society where you can be tracked anywhere, any time and all your movements, and eventually all your activities will be tracked and noted and correlated," Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology and Liberty Project, told CNN.
When I was in college, I had a professor that would be excellent friends with this director. He refused to get a debit card at the time because he was sure that people would start tracking his purchases then his information would be sold to different advertisers.
Here is my problem with this way of thinking. They overlook the benefits. The benefits far outweigh the negatives. If you are living an honest life, what difference does it make? So what if the FBI has personal information about you. Does it keep you safe? Does it keep terrorists out of the country?
People are complaining because sometimes employers ask the FBI to do background checks. CNN is reporting that you don't have to be a criminal or a terrorist to be checked against the database. More than 55 percent of the checks the FBI runs involve criminal background checks for people applying for sensitive jobs in government or jobs working with vulnerable people such as children and the elderly, according to the FBI.
The FBI says it hasn't been saving the fingerprints for those checks, but that may change. The FBI plans a so-called "rap-back" service in which an employer could ask the FBI to keep the prints for an employee on file and let the employer know if the person ever has a brush with the law. The FBI says it will first have to clear hurdles with state privacy laws, and people would have to sign waivers allowing their information to be kept.
This could have an awesome effect on the safety of our children. The main complaint over the last few months or years is that teachers can commit sex crimes in one state or be charged for misconduct then go to another state and still teach because there was no way of knowing, especially if the teacher was never convicted in that state. The FBI could solve this issue with this new technology!
I support this use of taxpayer money. It is about time that the government get in this century when it comes to our protection. The technology is expected to be the most accurate in identification.
