NGI: “Big Brother” is at play.
By Kate Doak, Staff Writer
The FBI’s fingerprint system was basically the same in 1999 as it was when the FBI started collecting fingerprints back in 1924. Since ’99, the FBI has been experimenting with a new program that will put the process of fingerprinting to shame. The new Facial Recognition Program, or Next Generation Identification (NGI), is a system that will use information in the FBI’s criminal database to easily identify and keep an eye on known criminals. Yet at what cost is this program to be established? It does not stop simply at money, but the trust and security of the American public as well. The FBI needs to be careful about the security measures they take as this can cause a lot of hysteria among the public.
As for the simple facts, this is a one billion dollar program that should be completed and ready for national use by 2014. According to the FBI, it will be used only for identifying known criminals and will use biometric data that is already in the FBI’s database, including mug shots, iris scans, voice recognition and a 10-point fingerprint matching process (that is 99 percent accurate according to Kimberly Jaindl, spokesperson for Lockheed, the company creating the technology). Michigan initiated a test in February, and ten additional states have either begun testing or shown interest in doing so.
This is where the FBI starts to run into problems. Representatives from the FBI stated that images from social networking sites and surveillance cameras “are not used to populate the national repository,” which basically means that the FBI will not utilize sites like Facebook or Myspace to obtain information or images of people who are not known criminals. This repeated statement is not enough to keep the population at bay, unfortunately, and the individuals who already posses a lack of trust for the government are becoming even more concerned.
Similar biometric systems that are used for the most simple and innocent reasons have received a lot of criticism from the general public regarding privacy. Facebook’s photo-tagging process, called Tag Suggestions, already caused controversy with its users. This program uses facial recognition software just like the NGI. If a Facebook feature is enough to cause this much hysteria from the public, imagine what something similar used by a government agency can do.
Scientists and journalists are estimating that Americans are going to be flustered about the program, and are even voicing their own concerns. Sara Reardon, a scientist and journalist who earned a M.S. in physiology from Southern Illinois University, said that the American public needs to be wary of the FBI’s desire to release a program that will “spy on the entire population.” Even if this power is not abused, “unauthorized users might be able to hack the system and gain access to sensitive data.” Reardon is afraid that the FBI will have too much power and too much information about the general public’s lives and, despite whether or not the FBI keeps its promises, the information can be very useful in the wrong hands.
The new NGI program needs to be, at the very least, carefully and strictly regulated. The American public has a history of terrifying conspiracy theories and the government does not always do a wonderful job at earning trust from the governed. With this new system it looks as though our “Big Brother” just got a little bigger.