The FBI wants to block individuals from knowing if their
information is in a massive repository of biometric records, which
includes fingerprints and facial scans, if the release of information
would "compromise" a law enforcement investigation.
The FBI’s biometric database, known as the “Next Generation
Identification System,” gathers a wide scope of information,
including palm prints, fingerprints, iris scans, facial and tattoo
photographs, and biographies for millions of people.
On Thursday, the Justice Department agency plans to propose the
database be exempt from several provisions of the Privacy Act –
legislation that requires federal agencies to share information about
the records they collect with the individual subject of those
records, allowing them to verify and correct them if needed.
Aside from criminals, suspects and detainees, the system includes
data from people fingerprinted for jobs, licenses, military or
volunteer service, background checks, security clearances, and
naturalization, among other government processes.
Letting individuals view their own records, or even the accounting
of those records, could compromise criminal investigations or
"national security efforts," potentially revealing a
“sensitive investigative technique” or information that could
help a subject “avoid detection or apprehension,” the draft
posting said.
Another clause requires agencies to keep the records they collect
to assure individuals any determination made about them was made
fairly.
Arguing for an exemption, the FBI posting claimed it is
“impossible to know in advance what information is accurate,
relevant, timely and complete” for “authorized law enforcement
purposes.”
“With time, seemingly irrelevant or untimely information may
acquire new significance when new details are brought to light,"
the posting said. Information contained in the database could help
with “establishing patterns of activity and providing criminal
lead.”
The proposal, open for public comment for a month after it’s
officially posted, would set a worrying precedent in which law
enforcement has significant leeway to decide what information to
collect without informing the subject, according to Jeramie Scott, a
national security counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information
Center, a research group advocating for digital civil liberties.
In 2014, EPIC won a lawsuit against the FBI, arguing the contracts
and technical requirements supporting the Next Generation
Identification database be published.
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