EFF has been closely following FBI‘s work to build out its Next Generation Identification (NGI) biometrics database. NGI expands the FBI’s IAFIS criminal and civil fingerprint database to include multimodal biometric identifiers such as iris scans, palm prints, face-recognition-ready photos, and voice data, and makes that data available to other agencies at the state and federal levels. As part of our focus on NGI, we‘ve sent out Freedom of Information Act and Public Records Act requests to the FBI and several state agencies for information on how NGI works and how the states share data with NGI. We‘ve also blogged and testified on facial recognition before the Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. Those records, the testimony, and the blog posts are linked below. We‘ll report on and post new records here as we receive them.
Archiv: Next Generation Identification (NGI) / FBI biometrics database
FBI nimmt weltgrößte Biometrie-Datenbank stückweise in Betrieb
(24.03.2011)
Das FBI hat begonnen, ihre 2007 geplante neue Datenbank für biometrische Merkmale in Betrieb zu nehmen. Das „Next Generation Identification“-System habe die erste Phase der „operationalen Einsatzfähigkeit“ erreicht, heißt es in US-Medienberichten. Die Datenbank soll das Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) der US-Polizeibehörde ersetzen und wird daher zunächst mit Fingerabdrücken gefüttert. Später sollen auch Iris-Scans, Stimmproben, Abbildungen von Handabdrücken, Tätowierungen, Narben und Gesichtsformen erfasst werden.
EU-Kommission prüft Zugriff auf Biometriedaten durch US-Polizei
Insgesamt 40 Länder nehmen derzeit am „Visa Waiver Program“ (VWP) der US-Regierung teil. Washington garantiert damit, dass die Bürger:innen der betreffenden Staaten zu geschäftlichen oder touristischen Zwecken für maximal drei Monate ohne Visum einreisen dürfen. Die Regelung gilt gegenseitig, auch US-Staatsangehörige können die 40 Länder visafrei besuchen. Unter den Teilnehmenden des VWP befinden sich fast alle Schengen-Staaten.
Nun verlangt die US-Regierung, dass die am VWP teilnehmenden Staaten im Rahmen einer „Enhanced Border Security Partnership“ (EBSP) Zugang zu ihren polizeilichen Biometrie-Datenbanken gewähren. US-Grenz- und Polizeibehörden sollen dafür Fingerabdrücke und Gesichtsbilder in Informationssystemen in den Schengen-Staaten abfragen dürfen.
Privacy Rights of Americans: Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Sues FBI for Details on “Next Generation Biometric Data”
More than a year has passed since the last response to EPIC from the FBI. In the past year, the FBI has continued to expand the biometric database, obtain Privacy Act exemptions, and make determinations with adverse consequences for Americans across the country.
Next Generation Identification
Next Generation Identification (NGI) is a project of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The project‘s goal is to expand the capabilities of the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), which is currently used by law enforcement to identify subjects by their fingerprints and to look up their criminal history. T
New Report: FBI Can Access Hundreds of Millions of Face Recognition Photos
According to the GAO Report, FBI’s Facial Analysis, Comparison, and Evaluation (FACE) Services unit not only has access to FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) face recognition database of nearly 30 million civil and criminal mug shot photos, it also has access to the State Department’s Visa and Passport databases, the Defense Department’s biometric database, and the drivers license databases of at least 16 states. Totaling 411.9 million images, this is an unprecedented number of photographs, most of which are of Americans and foreigners who have committed no crimes.
Next Generation Identification: FBI entwickelt Datenbank zur Gesichtserkennung
(06.08.2012) In einem US-Regierungsbericht zur Biometrieforschung aus dem Jahr 2011 wird Facebooks Gesichtserkennung explizit als förderlich für den Fortschritt auf dem Gebiet genannt: „Biometrische Gesichtserkennung hat seit 2006 eine Reihe von Fortschritten zu verzeichnen, angetrieben wir die Entwicklung durch die Beliebtheit von Social Networks. (…) Medienkonzerne wie Google, Apple und Facebook haben nun alle Gesichtserkennung in ihren Produkten integriert.“
FBI Doesn‘t Want Privacy Laws To Apply To Its Biometric Database
The FBI has been building a massive biometric database for the last eight years. The Next Generation Identification System (NGIS) starts with millions of photos of criminals (and non-criminals) and builds from there. Palm prints, fingerprints, iris scans, tattoos and biographies are all part of the mix.
FBI: US-Biometriedatenbank ist betriebsbereit
(16.September 2014) Nach mehreren Jahren des Aufbaus ist die FBI-Personendatenbank Next Generation Identification (NGI) nun vollständig betriebsfähig.
With FBI biometric database, ‚what happens in Vegas doesn‘t stay in Vegas‘
The FBI’s database, known as Next Generation Identification (NGI), is just one of a dizzying array of investigative innovations being hawked to U.S. law enforcement agencies large and small, nationwide. While technology has transformed nearly every industry, few have changed as rapidly — or with as much federal and corporate encouragement — as local law enforcement.
EPIC Prevails in Case Against FBI About Next Generation Identification
EPIC‘s lawsuit led to the disclosure of hundreds of pages about „Next Generation Identification“, a vast FBI database program with fingerprints, DNA profiles, iris scans, palm prints, voice identification profiles, and photographs, on millions of Americans suspected of no crime.
The FBI Wants Speedy DNA Analysis Added To Its Biometric Dragnet
The FBI‘s Next Generation Identification (NGI) database has been discussed here several times, thanks to its „expeditious“ blend of criminal and non-criminal data, its postponed-forever Privacy Impact Assessment the agency has been promising since 2008, the limited, four-state rollout of facial recognition software with a 20% error rate, and its peculiar exclusion of DOJ/law enforcement employees from its lifelong criminal database monitoring.
FBI‘s Biometric Program Blends Criminal And Non-Criminal Data For ‚Efficiency,‘ Obsessed With Tracking Care Providers
As was noted here earlier, the FBI‘s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system has rolled out, pretty much right on schedule and well ahead of the Privacy Impact Assessment it hasn‘t updated since the announcement of the „system upgrade“ back in 2008.
EPIC has obtained another load of documents from an FOIA request dealing with the „Rap Back“ portion of the NGI system, one that provides constant monitoring of certain people — like suspected criminals, people on parole, employees with security clearances and „trusted positions.“ Notably, the Rap Back program does not track employees of the criminal justice system, and nothing in what‘s been obtained even suggests it can be used that way.
Nach Tauschbörsen für Prepaid-Handykarten Angebot zum Wechseln des Gesichts: Künstler bietet sein “Face” an
Wie dringend notwendig der Selbstschutz der Bürger vor dem Überwachungsapparat seines Staates ist, zeigt die Presseerklärung “FBI Announces Full Operational Capability of the Next Generation Identification System” vom 15. September 2014 auf der Webpräsenz des F.B.I. Dort heisst es, dass die biometrische Datenbank zur Gesichtserkennung mit den neuen eingesetzten Techniken optimiert und Millionen Bilder der Bürger gespeichert wurden. Ein vernichtendes Fazit über die “erfolgreiche” Identifizierung wird ausführlich auf Daily Tech in “FBI’s New Facial Recognition System May Cover a Third of Americans” beschrieben.
Next Generation Identification
The development of the project is being led by Lockheed Martin who are teamed up with a number of technology companies.
FBI facial recognition system now fully operational in 18,000 bureaus across the country
The FBI announced Monday that after three years the agency‘s facial recognition database is now fully operational.
Programmers have installed the Next Generation Identification system (NGI) in 18,000 bureaus across the country and compiled more than 8 million mug shots, The Daily Mail reports.
FBI Expanding Facial-Recognition Database to Include Non-Criminal U.S. Citizens
Although fingerprints have long been collected at entry points in the U.S., the collection of more biometric data will soon be part of a traveler‘s routine.
The FBI is currently focused on creating a facial-recognition database as part of its Next Generation Identification (NGI) program.
Privacy Rights Groups Ask Eric Holder To Ensure The FBI‘s Biometric Database Doesn‘t Become Just Another Domestic Surveillance Tool
The FBI is continuing to push ahead with its development of a biometric database (Next Generation Identification, or NGI), which will combine old school fingerprints and background records with facial recognition technology and other biometric data.
The technology continues to improve, but the FBI originally greenlit the database back when it still allowed the database a 20% error rate on its facial recognition.
EFF and 31 Other Organizations Call for Privacy Assessment of FBI‘s Biometric Database
The FBI plans to roll out the face recognition component of its massive Next Generation Identification (NGI) biometrics database this summer—but the Bureau has six years of catching up to do in explaining to Americans exactly how it plans to collect, use and protect this data. Today we called on Attorney General Eric Holder to do just that.
The FBI’s Massive Facial Recognition Database: Privacy Implications
On February 12th of 2008, the FBI announced that it had hired Lockheed Martin to build its Next Generation Identification system (NGI) to deploy multimodal matching to biometric data of US citizens.
FBI Plans to Have 52 Million Photos in its NGI Face Recognition Database by Next Year
(14.04.2014) New documents released by the FBI show that the Bureau is well on its way toward its goal of a fully operational face recognition database by this summer.
EFF received these records in response to our Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for information on Next Generation Identification (NGI)—the FBI’s massive biometric database that may hold records on as much as one third of the U.S. population. The facial recognition component of this database poses real threats to privacy for all Americans.
What is NGI?
NGI builds on the FBI’s legacy fingerprint database—which already contains well over 100 million individual records—and has been designed to include multiple forms of biometric data, including palm prints and iris scans in addition to fingerprints and face recognition data.
EFF Sues FBI For Access to Facial-Recognition Records
(26.06.2014) Since early 2011, EFF has been closely following the FBI‘s work to build out its Next Generation Identification (NGI) biometrics database, which would replace and expand upon the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). The new program will include multiple biometric identifiers, such as iris scans, palm prints, face-recognition-ready photos, and voice data, and that information will be shared with other agencies at the local, state, federal and international levels. The face recognition component is set to launch in 2014.
Next Generation Identification
Organizations Involved in the Project
Accenture
BAE Systems
createTank
Global Science & Technology (GST)
IBM
Ingersoll Consulting Information Solutions (ICIS)
Innovative Management & Technology Services (IMTS)
Lakota Software Solutions, Inc
Lockheed Martin
NTT Data
Platinum Solutions
National Center for State Courts (NCSC)
FBI Plans to Have 52 Million Photos in its NGI Face Recognition Database by Next Year
EFF received these records in response to our Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for information on Next Generation Identification (NGI)—the FBI’s massive biometric database that may hold records on as much as one third of the U.S. population. The facial recognition component of this database poses real threats to privacy for all Americans.
Facial Recognition Software That Returns Incorrect Results 20% Of The Time Is Good Enough For The FBI
Documents acquired by EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) show the FBI rolled out a ton of new tech (under the name NGI — „Next Generation Identification“) with some very lax standards. While fingerprints are held to a more rigorous margin of error (5% max — which is still a 1-in-20 „acceptable“ failure rate), facial recognition is allowed much more leeway. (The TAR [True Acceptance Rate] details begin on page 247.)
FBI: Neues System zur Gesichtserkennung geplant
Unter dem Namen Next Generation Identification Program sollen vor allem Bilder aus Überwachungskameras effektiv per Gesichtserkennung mit Verbecherkarteien und Bildern aus dem Netz abgeglichen werden.
FBI begins installation of $1 billion face recognition system across America
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reached a milestone in the development of their Next Generation Identification (NGI) program and is now implementing the intelligence database in unidentified locales across the country,
5 Things You Should Know About the FBI‘s Massive New Biometric Database
8.1.2012 Civil libertarians worry about the roll-out of Next Generation Identification, a massive expansion of the agency‘s current biometric database.
FBI nimmt weltgrößte Biometrie-Datenbank stückweise in Betrieb
Das FBI hat begonnen, ihre 2007 geplante neue Datenbank für biometrische Merkmale in Betrieb zu nehmen. Das „Next Generation Identification“-System habe die erste Phase der „operationalen Einsatzfähigkeit“ erreicht, heißt es in US-Medienberichten. Die Datenbank soll das Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) der US-Polizeibehörde ersetzen und wird daher zunächst mit Fingerabdrücken gefüttert.