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Gold9472
12-24-2007, 09:40 AM
US plans world's largest biometric database

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14579603

Sunday, 23 December, 2007, 09:25

Washington: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is planning the world's largest databank of biometric information allowing it access to the physical characteristics of thousands of people, the Washington Post reported.

The $1-billion project of the FBI will give the federal police unprecedented access to information about people in the US and abroad in a massive computer database located in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

Photos and fingerprints are already being analysed at the site, which may grow to include eye scans, even data on the shape of a person's face or how they walk and talk, the newspaper reported on Saturday.

The data includes information from law enforcement officers across the country, but also data of 1.5 million Iraqi and Afghan prisoners, as well as civilians that have access to US military bases in those countries.

Proponents say it will make identifying criminals easier by comparing them quickly with information in the database, but human rights advocates see it as a step toward greater government intrusion.

FBI denies biometric database will abuse rights

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/24/2127031.htm?section=justin

Posted 5 hours 25 minutes ago

A senior US security official says strict safeguards will ensure that the world's biggest biometric database will not abuse civil liberties.

The FBI is due to award a $1 billion contract next month for the databank of people's physical characteristics.

FBI assistant director Thomas E Bush says the targets will be terrorist and criminal suspects.

The system is expected to contain a range of biometric information, including iris images and face-shape data.

But civil liberties groups have warned the technology may be unreliable.