FBI dramatically expanding biometrics programs: EFF

The FBI has expanded its biometrics programs with two major developments that will reportedly impact Americans on a day to day level more than any other biometrics initiative the national law enforcement agency has previously implemented, according to a report by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
The first change, which the FBI revealed quietly earlier this year in a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), is the consolidation of civil and criminal fingerprints into a single searchable database.
As such, all fingerprints and biographical data sent to the FBI for a background check will now be stored and searched in the same database as those containing fingerprints collected for criminal purposes.
Those U.S. citizens who have their fingerprints collected for licensing or for a background check will likely be stored in the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) database, where they will be regularly searched by law enforcement agencies across the country.
Although this is the first time the agency has allowed routine criminal searches of its civil fingerprint data, employers and certifying agencies have long been submitting fingerprints to the FBI.

 

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