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MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 03:33 PM Jun 2014

NSA Using Facial Recognition? So Are Most States, DHS & the FBI.

Some people have expressed surprise that the NSA is involved in using facial recognition to identify people from photos on the Internet and elsewhere. But, most US states have already implemented facial recognition for all driver's licenses in those states. It's all part of the Real ID program, and the database is growing of people whose faces are in the database. Here's a story from earlier this year:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/22/stateline-real-id/4772785/

The NSA's charter has to do with international intelligence gathering. Inside the USA, the FBI is the intelligence agency that handles most domestic stuff. At least that's how the charters for those agencies are designed. DHS also has access to such data.

I don't know about you, but I'd be more concerned with state governments, DHS and the FBI having access to facial recognition for everyone with a driver's license or state-issued photo ID. I imagine there's a database with facial recognition data for passports, as well.

Personally, it doesn't affect me, because I know I'm not of interest to any of those agencies, but the potential is there for abuse, as it always is. Traffic signal cameras? Can they consult the facial recognition data? Security camera video? Facebook. Whatever. The data is out there, and it's very likely that each of us is in the facial recognition database already.

Is the NSA scarier than your state's DMV or the FBI or the DHS? I don't think so, really. The NSA has its hands full with international intelligence, I'm sure. But your state? the FBI? They're interested in domestic stuff.

It's worth thinking about. We're all pretty easily identified in more than one way, and we're all in multiple databases. Linkages between such databases are growing fast.

So smile! Someone's watching.

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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NSA Using Facial Recognition? So Are Most States, DHS & the FBI. (Original Post) MineralMan Jun 2014 OP
We should all burn our driver licenses in protest! randome Jun 2014 #1
Too late for that, citizen. Your face is already known. MineralMan Jun 2014 #2
Move along, move along ... dawg Jun 2014 #3
The whole REAL ID thing was a George W. Bush MineralMan Jun 2014 #5
True story: The city where I live Blue_Tires Jun 2014 #4
I believe the technology has advanced a great deal MineralMan Jun 2014 #6
Yeah, it's been about six years since I last chatted with him... Blue_Tires Jun 2014 #7
Even Google has some amazing image matching technology. MineralMan Jun 2014 #8
Oh, you'd be surprised at how much overlap Blue_Tires Jun 2014 #9
Well, technology has a way of spreading around, MineralMan Jun 2014 #10
My doctor's office keeps my picture on file WhiteTara Jun 2014 #11
 

randome

(34,845 posts)
1. We should all burn our driver licenses in protest!
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 03:36 PM
Jun 2014

[hr][font color="blue"][center]If you don't give yourself the same benefit of a doubt you'd give anyone else, you're cheating someone.[/center][/font][hr]

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
5. The whole REAL ID thing was a George W. Bush
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 03:54 PM
Jun 2014

thing. It's ongoing and we don't seem to be noticing that, but we're noticing the NSA. Google facial recognition and add the alphabet agency of your choice. The information is available.

Bottom line is that we're all data these days. We're all in multiple databases. Within those databases, just about everything there is to know about each of us is available. The IRS and Social Security Administration have your entire work history as data. The DMV in your state knows about every ticket you've gotten and ever vehicle you have ever owned. Amazon knows what you buy. Facebook has a nice neat list of all your friends. The credit bureaus have all of your financial information, including bank accounts, credit cards and more.

Imagine if all of that data was accessible from a central location with a simple request. Perhaps it is. Who knows. Big Data is big.

Are we focusing on the wrong groups in our worries about data about us being collected? I think that perhaps we are. I think we should look around and look closer to home, really.

As I said, I'm not worried about it that much, since my hands are clean, but there it is.

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
4. True story: The city where I live
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 03:51 PM
Jun 2014

was one of the very FIRST test cases not long after 9-11...Mostly due to the fact that a couple of the hijackers were hanging around here during the planning stages...

A few years later I knew (professionally) a local university professor who got a huge DoD grant to perfect and refine the technology...At that time the algorithms were often stymied by hats, beards, and long hair over the forehead...I don't know how much it has advanced since then...

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
7. Yeah, it's been about six years since I last chatted with him...
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 03:58 PM
Jun 2014

And the DoD was dumping in a metric assload of $$$$ so I imagine it's a quantum leap in technological ability now...

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
8. Even Google has some amazing image matching technology.
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 04:01 PM
Jun 2014

Grab the URL of an image of someone or something and stick it in a Google Image search. I did that with a photo of myself, and Google found me right away at one of my blogs and another place.

Give it a try, and you'll get a demo of what's possible, even on a commercial basis.

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
9. Oh, you'd be surprised at how much overlap
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 04:08 PM
Jun 2014

exists between the 'mission goals' of Google and DARPA, which is one of the reasons why they have had such a productive collaborative partnership in recent years...

Some of the more unsavory aspects of their partnership have generated some, but not a whole lot of news coverage, sadly...People ignore the warning signs at their own peril...

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
10. Well, technology has a way of spreading around,
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 04:14 PM
Jun 2014

doesn't it? What we can do using Google just scratches the surface, really. And individuals with some good Google skills can do a great deal from the Google home page. Most people, though, are unaware of how powerful its access to big data really is.

As for the connection between commercial and government data mining, I have no idea how deep it goes, but nothing would surprise me. What does surprise me is how narrow our recognition really is. By focusing on the NSA, we're missing a lot of what is currently happening and is under development. We're looking in the wrong direction, I think, for the most part.

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