The FBI's new facial recognition program: 'Big Brother' in action?

[Jazzy]

The FBI is spending $1 billion to put together a facial recognition database that will let it spot suspects using footage from public security cameras. The new system would mark a giant leap forward for the bureau, which for decades has been using fingerprints and mugshots to ID suspects. How will it work, and should ordinary citizens be worried about privacy invasions? Here, a brief guide:



How would the system work?

The program, called Next-Generation Identification, is basically a more comprehensive version of the FBI's fingerprinting database, which worked about the same way in 1999 that it did when the FBI began collecting prints in 1924. To build the new database, police will start collecting more identifying information, from iris scans to DNA analysis to voice identification, so that in the future, federal agents will be able to use public cameras to pick out suspects and persons of interest from a crowd.



Can it really spot bad guys in a crowd?

Yes. In 2010, tests found that some computer algorithms were able to match a person on camera to the right mugshot on file 92 percent of the time. The system is also able to use profile shots to spot people even if they don't look straight into the camera.



When will it be ready to use?

There's already a pilot program underway in select areas, but the full rollout isn't expected until 2014. Right now, the system is only hooked up to law enforcement databases, so agents can only sift through details of people with a criminal record. At some point, however, the database could be linked to other government photo databases, so that anyone with a driver's license or other government-issued I.D. could be caught in the web.



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Do you think this is an invasion of our privacy? Why or why not?

 

[anurocked]

This will be revolution in security services.

 

[Locke]

Unless these cameras are being used in a person's home or other private areas, then no.



When you're in public, you have no expectation of privacy.

 

[Sinon]

When you're in public, you have no expectation of privacy.

This, completely. If you don't want your privacy breached IN PUBLIC then you're either paranoid, or planning a criminal act. That's why there's a difference between PUBLIC and PRIVATE.

 

[The Dragon Master]

This, completely. If you don't want your privacy breached IN PUBLIC then you're either paranoid, or planning a criminal act. That's why there's a difference between PUBLIC and PRIVATE.

This.



This would revolutionise crime fighting if it works on a wide scale. Just think of the hours that could be saved, identifying a person suspected of murder allowing them to be caught much more quickly than before.

 

[Evil Eye]

This is no more a breach of privacy than having the cameras in the first place. This just makes them useful.