FBI unveils potentially terrifying $1B facial recognition system

Break out the ski masks: The FBI has just launched an ambitious, $1 billion facial recognition system that’ll have Big Brother conspiracy theorists saying "See! I told you so!" The biometric Next Generation Identification system is supposed to help the FBI catch criminals, but privacy advocates are already worrying about the implications. The FBI used to rely only on a fingerprint database, but NGI will use mug shots, DNA records, iris scans and voice samples that were collected through a network of photo databases shot by cameras around the country. The pilot study has only used mug shots and licenses of known criminals, but privacy advocates are raising concerns that without the proper checks and balances, the system could impinge on personal freedoms. [Source]

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