Riot in the USA: The FBI will invest about a billion dollars in establishing the largest biometric database in the world

Big Brother - his eye is open * The FBI has already begun to process and store digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns, and hope to begin the actual establishment of the database as early as this month

To the attention of the reader George Orwell: The American FBI will invest about one billion dollars in the establishment of the largest biometric database in the world, which should help the American government identify people in the country and abroad - according to a report that appeared last weekend in the Washington Post and is causing many echoes in the United States . The system that will be implemented on top of the database, which is called Next Generation Identification, is supposed to centralize the collection of the biometric data, for the purposes of identity verification and criminal identification.

The FBI has already begun processing and storing digital images of faces, fingerprints, and palm prints, and hopes to begin the actual establishment of the database as early as next month. As part of the war on terrorism, the agency is supposed to sign a ten-year agreement this January, which will help expand the use of biometric data. At the request of employers, for example, the FBI will check employees' fingerprints to make sure they have no criminal record.

The Washington Post reports that the use of biometric information arouses much criticism among Americans, who are concerned that their bodies will become a kind of national identity card. Some argue that the government should not establish such databases, as long as it does not have proof that this technology can really locate a criminal in a crowd of people.

Meanwhile, all arms of the US government are increasing the use of biometric data. In the last two years, the Ministry of Defense has stored in its computers digital photographs of fingerprints, irises and faces of more than 1.5 million Iraqi and Afghan detainees, as well as foreign citizens interested in access to US military bases. In addition, the Pentagon collects DNA samples from Iraqi detainees. The Ministry of State Security in the USA uses iris scans at various airports, in order to verify the identity of passengers who want to bypass certain waiting points and have already passed some of the tests. According to the publications, the office has millions of fingerprints, including those collected at the US borders from citizens who adopted children outside the country, and from foreigners who applied for a visa.

The FBI will use digital billboards to catch criminals

The digital billboards will be placed on busy roads and will be used to expose fugitive criminals, kidnapping victims, missing children or terrorist suspects

Anthony Gonzalez, InformationWeek
The FBI intends to place digital billboards in twenty major cities in the US, which will display the most wanted fugitive criminals in that area, information about missing persons and emergency notifications. The digital billboards will be placed on busy roads and will be used to expose fugitive criminals, kidnapping victims, missing children or terrorist suspects. The photos of the victims or suspects can be shown immediately after the crime is committed or the child disappears.

The project will be carried out in cooperation with the advertising company Clear Channel Outdoor, which will provide the advertising spaces in public places, and according to the FBI, this is actually an extension of a successful experiment that was carried out in Philadelphia, and now the advertising will also be expanded to the cities of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami and more .

The experiment in Philadelphia began on September 13, and as part of it, eight billboards displayed "crystal clear pictures" of the 11 most dangerous fugitive criminals, and published a phone number that can be contacted 24 hours a day. In October, two fugitive criminals were captured thanks to the publicity. Following the expansion of the project, a total of 150 digital billboards will be placed across the US, but no exact date has been given.