Civil Rights Groups Say FBI's Biometric ID System Jeopordizing Privacy Laws
TEHRAN(Basirat)-A coalition of 45 civil rights and privacy advocates denounced in a letter to the Department of Justice on Wednesday a new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) biometrics identification database that could severely jeopardize US privacy protections.
The FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system is an upgraded
biometric identification database which employs facial recognition, iris
scanning, fingerprinting and other advanced identification technologies
to coordinate local, state, and federal law enforcement actions.
The system is scheduled to go into effect later in 2016 after a short period of public review,sputniknews reported .
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the database will not only collect information on convicted criminals, but on "many people who are just applying for a job, volunteer position, naturalization, or military commission, and others who need to undergo a fingerprint or photo background check."
Under the NGI system, the FBI "asks to be exempt from Privacy Act rules," the civil rights coalition argued in their letter. The FBI would no longer have to disclose when an individual is included in a government database, whether the individual's information is accurate, or if that person's profile had been shared with other parts of the US government.
The coalition of advocates denounced the program as "an extraordinarily broad proposal" that will negatively impact sensitive communities, including a disproportionate number of African Americans, Latinos and immigrants.
