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The FBI's Facial Recognition Database Combines Lo-Res Photos With Zero Civil Liberties Consideration
from the non-criminal-photos-mixed-in-just-for-fun! dept
Another FOIA lawsuit brought against the government by the EFF has resulted in the release of previously withheld documents. The papers cut loose this time detail the FBI's facial recognition database and other parts of its "Next Generation Identification" (NGI) program, one that aims to compile a collection of biometric data.
EPIC's FOIA lawsuit over similar information revealed last year that the FBI's facial recognition software (as of 2010) had an acceptable margin of error of 20%. With a 1-in-5 chance of "recognizing" the wrong person, the accuracy of the database had nowhere to go but up. But it appears the FBI prioritizes quantity over quality, as the first number to hit you from the "released" documents is a big one.
The records we received show that the face recognition component of NGI may include as many as 52 million face images by 2015. By 2012, NGI already contained 13.6 million images representing between 7 and 8 million individuals, and by the middle of 2013, the size of the database increased to 16 million images. The new records reveal that the database will be capable of processing 55,000 direct photo enrollments daily and of conducting tens of thousands of searches every day.
The millions of images come from a handful of sources. Only 46 million of those images, however, will be from criminal databases. The other 6 million will come from other sources, not all of those necessarily related to criminal or terrorist activity.
[
i][T]he FBI does not define either the Special Population Cognizant database or the "new repositories" category [which account for nearly a million images]...
A 2007 FBI document available on the web describes SPC as a service provided to Other Federal Organizations (OFOs), or other agencies with special needs by agreement with the FBI and notes that [t]hese SPC Files can be specific to a particular case or subject set (e.g., gang or terrorist related), or can be generic agency files consisting of employee records.
A 2007 FBI document available on the web describes SPC as a service provided to Other Federal Organizations (OFOs), or other agencies with special needs by agreement with the FBI and notes that [t]hese SPC Files can be specific to a particular case or subject set (e.g., gang or terrorist related), or can be generic agency files consisting of employee records.
These employee records may be tossed into the database along with the criminal records if the FBI chooses to assign these a Universal Control Number (UCN). And these records may become more common. As the EFF points out, if you submit your fingerprints as part of a pre-employment background check, these are added to the FBI's database. If employers decide they also want a pre-employment mug shot, that will head the FBI's way as well.
The database will be populated with non-criminal photos and overseen by an agency that hasn't provided an updated Privacy Impact Assessment for its facial recognition program since 2008. The low resolution (often at 0.75 megapixels or less) makes this blending of hit/non-hit photos even more problematic, as it means the FBI's actual accuracy rate still hovers between 80-85%. But the agency has weasel-worded its way out of having to defend such a lousy accuracy rating.
MORE AT:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140414/16045126909/fbis-facial-recognition-database-combines-lo-res-photos-with-zero-civil-liberties-considerations.shtml
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The FBI's Facial Recognition Database Combines Lo-Res Photos With Zero Civil Liberties Consideration (Original Post)
KoKo
Apr 2014
OP
They get your photo at the DMV, ATM's, cell phones, Facebook, for passports, via email, etc.
blkmusclmachine
Apr 2014
#2
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)1. Let's start with Jr and Poppy first
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)2. They get your photo at the DMV, ATM's, cell phones, Facebook, for passports, via email, etc.
Like the Feds say, "Nothing is beyond our reach."
Thanks, 9/11.