The FBI Likely Has You in its Facial Recognition Database

[Trik'Stari]

Put on your tinfoil hats boys and girls.

 

Quote

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has access to as many as 411.9 million images as part of its face-recognition database. The bulk of those images are photographs of people who have committed no crime, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

 

The report says the bureau's Facial Analysis, Comparison, and Evaluation Services Unit contains not only 30 million mug shots, but also has access to driver license photos from 16 states, the State Department's visa and passport database, and the biometric database maintained by the Defense Department.

 

The GAO report, titled "FACE RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY: FBI Should Better Ensure Privacy and Accuracy," comes nearly two years after the bureau said its facial recognition project graduated from a pilot project to "full operational capability." The facial recognition project is combined with a fingerprint database. Here's how the GAO report summarized the program:

And here's the GAO summary of the program.

Quote

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) operates the Next Generation Identification-Interstate Photo System (NGI-IPS)—a face recognition service that allows law enforcement agencies to search a database of over 30 million photos to support criminal investigations. NGI-IPS users include the FBI and selected state and local law enforcement agencies, which can submit search requests to help identify an unknown person using, for example, a photo from a surveillance camera. When a state or local agency submits such a photo, NGI-IPS uses an automated process to return a list of 2 to 50 possible candidate photos from the database, depending on the user’s specification. As of December 2015, the FBI has agreements with seven states to search NGI-IPS and is working with more states to grant access. In addition to the NGI-IPS, the FBI has an internal unit called Facial Analysis, Comparison, and Evaluation (FACE) Services that provides face recognition capabilities, among other things, to support active FBI investigations. FACE Services not only has access to NGI-IPS, but can search or request to search databases owned by the Departments of State and Defense and 16 states, which use their own face recognition systems. Biometric analysts manually review photos before returning at most the top 1 or 2 photos as investigative leads to FBI agents.

 

Why be concerned you ask?

Quote

The FBI has entered into agreements to search and access external databases—including millions of U.S. citizens’ drivers’ license and passport photos—but until FBI officials can assure themselves that the data they receive from external partners are reasonably accurate and reliable, it is unclear whether such agreements are beneficial to the FBI and do not unnecessarily include photos of innocent people as investigative leads.

 

Specifically, according to a July 2012 Electronic Frontier Foundation hearing statement, false positives can alter the traditional presumption of innocence in criminal cases by placing more of a burden on the defendant to show he is not who the system identifies him to be. The Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that this is true even if a face recognition system such as NGI-IPS provides several matches instead of one, because each of the potentially innocent individuals identified could be brought in for questioning. In addition, if false positives are returned at a higher than acceptable rate, law enforcement users may waste time and resources pursuing unnecessary investigative leads. By conducting tests to verify that NGI-IPS is sufficiently accurate for all allowable candidate list sizes—including ensuring that the detection and false positive rates are identified—the FBI would have reasonable assurance that NGI-IPS provides investigative leads that help enhance, rather than hinder or overly burden, criminal investigation work. Even more, the FBI would help ensure that it is sufficiently protecting the privacy and civil liberties of U.S. citizens enrolled in the database.

 

If you live in one of the following states, and have a drivers license, you are in their database:

Spoiler

North Dakota

Nebraska

Iowa

Illinois

Kentucky

Utah

New Mexico

Texas

Arkansas

Alabama

Tennessee

North Carolina

South Carolina

Vermont

Delaware

With a large number of other states currently "under negotiation for memorandum of understanding with the FBI (for access to drivers license photos)", whatever that means.

Spoiler

South Dakota

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Colorado

Kansas

Arizona

Alaska

Nevada

Mississippi

Indiana

West Virginia

Georgia

Florida

Maryland (including DC)

Pennsylvania

New Jersey

Massachusetts

Connecticut

 

Source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/06/smile-youre-in-the-fbi-face-recognition-database/

 

Personally, I find this to be quite concerning. Particularly because most of the images collected were not collected for criminal or national security purposes. We really need to start fighting back against this government attitude of "because we want it".

 

Just for fun

Spoiler

"They're watchin you..."

 

[AlTech]

And......... the Hong Kong government have a photo of me and my finger print.

 

It's nothing unusual..

[Trik'Stari]

1 minute ago, AluminiumTech said:

And......... the Hong Kong government have a photo of me and my finger print.

 

It's nothing unusual..

You might not find that disturbing, (assuming you are a Chinese native) but I find it quite disturbing.

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, Trik'Stari said:

You might not find that disturbing, (assuming you are a Chinese native) but I find it quite disturbing.

I am not Chinese lol. I'm American. The facial recognition is for Hong Kong ID cards and so is the fingerprint.

 

The ID + Photo is to ensure you are who you claim you are. The fingerprint is for also checking you are who you claim to be as well as being a measure of convenience.

 

Example:  If I took a flight tomorrow in the airport. I could easily bypass passport control by using my ID card and scanning my fingerprint on a sensor.......

 

[ShadowCaptain]

I am sure they will enjoy my face

[crysilis]

9 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

Put on your tinfoil hats boys and girls.

 

And here's the GAO summary of the program.

 

Why be concerned you ask?

 

If you live in one of the following states, and have a drivers license, you are in their database:

  Reveal hidden contents

North Dakota

Nebraska

Iowa

Illinois

Kentucky

Utah

New Mexico

Texas

Arkansas

Alabama

Tennessee

North Carolina

South Carolina

Vermont

Delaware

With a large number of other states currently "under negotiation for memorandum of understanding with the FBI (for access to drivers license photos)", whatever that means.

  Reveal hidden contents

South Dakota

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Colorado

Kansas

Arizona

Alaska

Nevada

Mississippi

Indiana

West Virginia

Georgia

Florida

Maryland (including DC)

Pennsylvania

New Jersey

Massachusetts

Connecticut

 

Source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/06/smile-youre-in-the-fbi-face-recognition-database/

 

Personally, I find this to be quite concerning. Particularly because most of the images collected were not collected for criminal or national security purposes. We really need to start fighting back against this government attitude of "because we want it".

 

Just for fun

  Reveal hidden contents

"They're watchin you..."

 

I live in canada  hopefully I'm safe probably not though  

[Trik'Stari]

3 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

I am not Chinese lol. I'm American. The facial recognition is for Hong Kong ID cards and so is the fingerprint.

 

The ID + Photo is to ensure you are who you claim you are. The fingerprint is for also checking you are who you claim to be as well as being a measure of convenience.

 

Example:  If I took a flight tomorrow in the airport. I could easily bypass passport control by using my ID card and scanning my fingerprint on a sensor.......

 

I mean that's all well and good, if you want to sacrifice privacy for convenience. But chances are you willingly got that card.

 

This is concerning because the FBI has collected this information without the consent of those who it is collecting it from. At best they're doing it with "implied consent" which is just as bad.

 

The issue here is the possibility of false positives, which is a thing, as facial recognition has f**ked up during criminal investigations in the past.

[AlTech]

2 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

I mean that's all well and good, if you want to sacrifice privacy for convenience. But chances are you willingly got that card.

 

This is concerning because the FBI has collected this information without the consent of those who it is collecting it from. At best they're doing it with "implied consent" which is just as bad.

Actually no. That card is forced upon people who wish to live in Hong Kong and be a resident.

 

@ThatCoolBlueKidd Back me up on this! And the convenience factor of having an ID + fingerprint.

[AlTech]

4 minutes ago, crysilis said:

I live in canada  hopefully I'm safe probably not though  

Probably not since the CIA or NSA might have a facial rec of you.

[Trik'Stari]

2 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Actually no. That card is forced upon people who wish to live in Hong Kong and be a resident.

 

@ThatCoolBlueKidd Back me up on this! And the convenience factor of having an ID + fingerprint.

Wow. I couldn't handle that, not from a communist regime with a myriad of human rights violations currently ongoing.

 

1 minute ago, AluminiumTech said:

Probably not since the CIA or NSA might have a facial rec of you.

Probably a safe assumption. Chances are they have everyone.

[AlTech]

2 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

Wow. I couldn't handle that, not from a communist regime with a myriad of human rights violations currently ongoing.

 

Probably a safe assumption. Chances are they have everyone.

[KuJoe]

I'd be more upset if they didn't have it. Seriously, if the FBI was more inept than Google I would be really worried.

[No]

i was about to get my license :c

[JAKEBAB]

Surprised Facebook wasn't used.

[othertomperson]

I really don't understand Americans. They bang on about their right bear arms (and also bare arms) in the hypothetical event of their government encroaching on their liberty, then their government actually does stuff like this and no one seems to care. Even better, people are calling whistleblowers traitors.

[AlTech]

2 minutes ago, othertomperson said:

I really don't understand Americans. They bang on about their right bear arms (and also bare arms) in the hypothetical event of their government encroaching on their liberty, then their government actually does stuff like this and no one seems to care. Even better, people are calling whistleblowers traitors.

Initially I saw Snowden as a traitor but now I see him as a hero.

[ImBleu]

1 hour ago, Trik'Stari said:

You might not find that disturbing, (assuming you are a Chinese native) but I find it quite disturbing.

 

58 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

Wow. I couldn't handle that, not from a communist regime with a myriad of human rights violations currently ongoing.

 

Probably a safe assumption. Chances are they have everyone.

 

1 hour ago, AluminiumTech said:

Actually no. That card is forced upon people who wish to live in Hong Kong and be a resident.

 

@ThatCoolBlueKidd Back me up on this! And the convenience factor of having an ID + fingerprint.

Okay so I'm not Chinese either - I'm European. I live in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, which is a self-governing DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM, not a communist STATE.

 

As I have lived here more than 7 years, I hold a Hong Kong Identification Card. That means that the HK Government has a picture of me and my fingerprint. They also have multiple other bits of information as things like my Bank Account, Drivers Licence and School Grades are also all tied together through my HKID#. I frequently travel internationally to China which has an immigration border control checkpoint the same as any other neighbouring country. I am able to leave Hong Kong without speaking to an immigration officer by swiping my HKID card and scanning my fingerprint, I find this super convenient as I dont need to stand in a queue for about 20 years. I also am able to use multiple services by using only my fingerprint instead of having to produce passports/IDs etc (although the vast majority still require IDs of course).

 

Tbh there is nothing wrong with them having my details, I have nothing to hide. No tin foil hats here.

[Trik'Stari]

25 minutes ago, othertomperson said:

I really don't understand Americans. They bang on about their right bear arms (and also bare arms) in the hypothetical event of their government encroaching on their liberty, then their government actually does stuff like this and no one seems to care. Even better, people are calling whistleblowers traitors.

It's mainly because of people giving the argument given below. "I have nothing to hide". Which is a bullshit argument. EVERYONE has something they'd rather people not know about, and everyone has something that someone somewhere could use against them.

 

But they continue on in their merry, apathetic way, despite historical precedent as to why allowing the government know your every move, thought, action, and statement is a terrible idea. Then when it bites them in the ass they will get angry about it, despite having been told repeatedly over the years that it's going to happen sooner or later. Despite being shown how it happens, when it happened, etc.

 

The firearms are more for use when the government actually starts using this kind of overreach and ridiculous power to abuse the people, en-masse.

 

10 minutes ago, ThatCoolBlueKidd said:

 

 

Okay so I'm not Chinese either - I'm European. I live in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, which is a self-governing DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM, not a communist STATE.

 

As I have lived here more than 7 years, I hold a Hong Kong Identification Card. That means that the HK Government has a picture of me and my fingerprint. They also have multiple other bits of information as things like my Bank Account, Drivers Licence and School Grades are also all tied together through my HKID#. I frequently travel internationally to China which has an immigration border control checkpoint the same as any other neighbouring country. I am able to leave Hong Kong without speaking to an immigration officer by swiping my HKID card and scanning my fingerprint, I find this super convenient as I dont need to stand in a queue for about 20 years. I also am able to use multiple services by using only my fingerprint instead of having to produce passports/IDs etc (although the vast majority still require IDs of course).

 

Tbh there is nothing wrong with them having my details, I have nothing to hide. No tin foil hats here.

Wasn't aware of there being a difference between Hong Kong and the rest of China. Not that it matters.

 

"I have nothing to hide" is not a valid argument in support of a police state. Mostly because it's not true. Everyone has something they don't want people to know about. Not because they did something illegal, but because it's something they might be ashamed of, or embarrassed by. The point is, everyone has something that could be used against them in some way.

[othertomperson]

2 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

It's mainly because of people giving the argument given below. "I have nothing to hide". Which is a bullshit argument. EVERYONE has something they'd rather people not know about, and everyone has something that someone somewhere could use against them.

 

But they continue on in their merry, apathetic way, despite historical precedent as to why allowing the government know your every move, thought, action, and statement is a terrible idea. Then when it bites them in the ass they will get angry about it, despite having been told repeatedly over the years that it's going to happen sooner or later. Despite being shown how it happens, when it happened, etc..

 

If they have nothing to hide, why do they have curtains?

[Trik'Stari]

1 minute ago, othertomperson said:

 

If they have nothing to hide, why do they have curtains?

Why do they lock their doors? Why do they use passwords?

 

Can I see their bank accounts? Can I look through their houses when they aren't there? Why not? Are they paranoid?

[othertomperson]

2 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

Why do they lock their doors? Why do they use passwords?

 

Can I see their bank accounts? Can I look through their houses when they aren't there? Why not? Are they paranoid?

 

Precisely.  I mean, at the most basic level, I get dressed in a room that has a PC with a webcam in it. Getting dressed isn't illegal, but I'd still rather that not be broadcast. So would most other people, I'd imagine

 

Edit: oh and if anyone is thinking "no one wants to see anyone get dressed either", go to pornhub or xhamster or somewhere and search "hidden cam".

[Master Disaster]

7.4 billion people in the world. Let's round that down to 7b.

 

411 million in the database. Let's round that down to 400m.

 

That works out to 0.05(714285714285715)% (Thanks to Google for doing the math) of the world in this database. Its 99.94% likely they don't have you in their database? 

 

Interesting enough we can go even further with the math. The total pop of American in March 2016 was 318m. Now let's assume they have everyone in America in the DB (cause why wouldn't they) and we'll round that up to 320m.

 

320m of 411m = 77.85888077858881% so we can extrapolate that 22.05% of people in the DB are not native American. 

 

Personally I'd love to know how many Muslims/Asians they have in the DB, I'm gonna guess most of the 22% are of Asian descent cause well, 'murica mother fucker. 

 

[ImBleu]

42 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

 

Wasn't aware of there being a difference between Hong Kong and the rest of China. Not that it matters.

 

"I have nothing to hide" is not a valid argument in support of a police state. Mostly because it's not true. Everyone has something they don't want people to know about. Not because they did something illegal, but because it's something they might be ashamed of, or embarrassed by. The point is, everyone has something that could be used against them in some way.

What I mean here is, I'd rather something like the NSA snooping happened if they manage to prevent terrorist attacks, etc. Yes there are things Im embarrassed about, but Im not about to go live off grid. Legally, you can be photographed in public as long as you are in a public environment in which you are in a circumstance you may expect to be recorded, which is anywhere that isn't private property / bathrooms etc. The government already has access to my birth records, school records, drivers & power boat licences, HKID, bank accounts, taxes etc. I really see no difference. They have access to my fingerprint and access to my face, something I am quite alright with. Am I alright with someone like Google having my fingerprint? A little less so but I am still okay with it if it means I can unlock my phone through a fingerprint reader.

 

I'd really like to see what the government can do with my fingerprint and face that they couldn't already do. I'm not the leader of some underground criminal organization and really feel that there is nothing wrong with government agenices having pictures of your face and/or fingerprints.

[JoaoPRSousa]

No they don't. I'm always lingering in the shadows.

[509Vince]

Good thing I live in Nigeria, so putting me in a facial database isn't gonna be easy unless some bozo in the government requires Nigeria to hand over all identities of people in their passport database, just to "prevent" terrorism and so they can still continue entering the US.

 

P.S I am not Nigerian and neither specifying my nationality. 

 

Also the only reason they should keep fingerprints and face images is to identify your identity like when entering the US/Leaving it, not suspect you and in fear record everyones face & fingerprint just for antiterrorism reasons.

 

They currently have found NOTHING relating to terrorism attacks being planned on the internet via spying and asking for data on the person's internet actions, all that gets it is old fashioned detective work which works every time.

Edited June 19, 2016 by 509Vince
More information I have realized needed to be put in.