Big Brother: FBI’s $1B ‘Next Generation Identification’ Program Will Track People Using Facial Recognition
(source: http://cons.wonderhowto.com)
Sometime in the near future, the federal government will be able to trace your every move by using the expansive network of CCTV cameras in the U.S. in coordination with a new $1 billion program that uses facial recognition software to track and locate suspects. But don’t worry, it will only ever be used to reduce “terrorist and criminal activities.”
No, this is not the plot of a Brad Thor book, this is real life.
The FBI, working with Lockheed Martin Transportation and Security Solutions and IBM, is almost ready to unveil its Next Generation Identification program, which has reportedly been in development for years.
The FBI claims the goal of the program “is to reduce terrorist and criminal activities by improving and expanding biometric identification and criminal history information services through research, evaluation, and implementation of advanced technology.”
“The NGI system will expand fingerprint processing capacity and will now also include palm prints, iris and facial recognition capabilities. Additionally, the system requires a significant degree of technical flexibility in order to accommodate other biometric modalities that may mature and become important to law enforcement efforts in the future,” a Lockheed Martin press release states.
As Gizmodo points out, using new fingerprint analysts and databases to identify criminals faster will undoubtedly be a valuable tool for local and federal law enforcement, however, other biometric parameters are ripe for abuse, most notably, facial recognition.
With this system, the FBI and its collaborating administrations would be able to apply facial identification to any image source. Using a much more sophisticated version of the technology found in Facebook or iPhoto, law enforcement agents would be able to quickly go through catalogs of mugshots, images of tattoos or even street photos in search of specific individuals. And of course, that includes an expansive network of CCTV cameras that dot landscapes and street corners across the country.
While America will not become a science fiction Big Brother movie for the time being, you can be sure that this is where we are going. Older video cameras didn’t have neither the resolution nor the connectivity to work with a centralized, sophisticated facial recognition system. But this has changed fast: ultra-cheap, inexpensive HD cameras are now being installed everywhere and, very soon, the ability of anyone with access to such system to track everyone on the streets will be an omnipresent reality.
Just think about this: in the New York subway system alone, there are now 3700 security cameras online. Three thousand and seven hundred cameras is a network that you can’t escape unless you wear a balaclava. Of those, a remarkable 507 are “providing live feeds to NYPD’s Command Center from three key transit hubs: Grand Central Station, Penn Station, and Times Square.” And that number is growing.
(VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images)
This type of surveillance superiority has been a long time coming. In 2009, the feds reportedly gave state and local law enforcement $300 million to pay for additional CCTV cameras to monitor the streets and now it seems like there is a camera on nearly every street corner in certain cities. And while the U.S. may be better off than the U.K., where there are roughly 14 citizens per CCTV camera, it is still alarming to see the surveillance capabilities of law enforcement here at home expanding so drastically.
Gizmodo may have said it best: “1984 is arriving a little bit late, but it’s getting here soon.”
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Comments (52)
NineteenEighty4
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:37pmLiterally no one is asking for this. No one is afraid of the terrorist boogeyman. There are no terrorists capable of harming us, an ocean away. You’d think if the threat was there, something would have happened by now. There’s no reason to think airplanes and airports are the only targets. They could go after malls, movie theaters, concerts, sports arenas, or any other large gathering of people. There’s not been one single domestic attack. If people actually were out there and really wanted to hurt Americans, they could do so with very little trouble. Something would have happened by now, if the threat was real. Instead there’s the TSA, cameras on every block, drones scheduled to start flying over our cities, and government “peacekeepers” going through your texts, emails, phone transcripts, tweets and every other conceivable method of communication.
There is no threat. The greatest enemy to our freedoms in 2012 is ourselves. It’s all a fabrication to keep re-signing those lucrative defense contracts with our dear friends at Lockheed Martin. Oh, and renewing those ever-important subsidies for those struggling oil executives. What would they do without our aid? I’m glad the feds are there to help them in their time of need.
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Secret Squirrel
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:27pm.
This is not about solving crime.
This is about an ever bigger, more expensive government.
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irishheart
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 8:58pmTime to don the burqah.
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MajorLeagueInfidel
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 8:09pmA system totally foiled by wearing a mask while driving. Wonderful waste of taxpayer money.
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Dismayed Veteran
Posted on September 11, 2012 at 3:43pmIt would not be a system defeat. A mask would automatically profile the wearer as dangerous. A mask is a visual admission of guilt. 1984 really does suck.
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Lordcsmith
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:34pmThey’re at it again
http://www.ibmandtheholocaust.com
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Eastinfection
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:20pmIn other news… sales of rubber Obama masks skyrocket.
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stashu394
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:13pm…and they still won’t use this to stop voter fraud.
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Exrepublisheep
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:22pmIn reality voter fraud is almost irrelevant. Much less of an actual problem than telling legitimate voters that they can’t vote.
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Dano.50
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:05pmI’ve always kind of enjoyed Michio Kaku’s science shows and books, even though the theoretical physicist is a global warming libertard, but I have pretty much lost respect for this guy.
In his 2011 book “Physics of the Future” he claims, thanks to the internet, that big brother is impossible, so he can’t be much of a scientist if he didn’t bother researching facial rec-tech.
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ssortors
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:04pmreminds me of the show “persons of interest”
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AzThunder
Posted on September 11, 2012 at 4:19pmthat’s what I was thinking
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502_eagle
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:59pmThis will be only the begining. And they will tell us – if you have nothing to hid- what are you afraid of?
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randy
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:54pmEvery day, something new., and yet we still sit here….. Do you really think the November elections will change anything? I fear there is already too much momentum to change a darn thing….. What we need is for people of get off their fat lazy a$$es and have a 200 million citizen march on Washington, and every state capitol in the country……
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FREEDOMoverFEAR
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:59pmPeople wont start protesting and revolting untill times are much worse. The average American’s life is too good for them to want to risk sacraficing it for Governmental change.
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TRILO
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 8:03pmNo, The November elections will not solve anything. Romney/Ryan are just as supportive of these programs as the current tyrant in chief. If anyone thinks government surveillance of all Americans will disappear they living on Mars. Republicans are just as big on Big Brother technology as the Democrats. Hell Romney wants to increase the war machine budget. As if we do not spend enough!
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Oldphoto678
Posted on September 11, 2012 at 7:40am@ TRILO, Don’t worrie your little head about what Romney would do…He will never be the president!
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762x51
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:47pmI have a fool proof method that defeats these surveillance systems. I don’t go into the cities.
When they start trying to set up surveillance in the high desert there may be some cameras or their solar panels damaged by random gunfire. Eventually they will get tired of replacing them.
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PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 10:28pmThe Google satellites in the sky can zero right in on a person. There will be no escape. They will probably upgrade the satellites for this imaging too. No one trusts anyone any more. It’s sad.
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S.Sailor
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:41pmAnd we still have people out there that DO NOT believe that the “Mark of the Beast” is coming….
The only thing that has to be done now is to combine your Cellphone GPS, with all those plastic cards that we all carry and then this “facial recognition” crap too and it’s all over but the shouting…
And 300 million sheep have no clue !
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progressiveslayer
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:40pmAll these cameras and drones will keep the government safe from us because make no mistake folks this whole system is designed to do just that.Government won’t spend a nickle to protect us but they’ll spend billions of our dollars to protect themselves from us. This whole country will be wired worse than the UK but they’re doing it for our protection and the good folks in the government wouldn’t dream of abusing their authority. NDAA says they can pretty much do what they want to us,no right to a lawyer held without charge and that gem was given to us by Bush and the Marxist in chief is trampling our constitution on a regular basis,bunch of privacy rapists the lot of them.
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FREEDOMoverFEAR
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:02pmWe lost our freedom the day women won Suffrage. Why would someone who can’t protect themselves vote for a society that calls for you to protect yourself?
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762x51
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:27pmI wonder how the grocery store would react to me wearing my ghillie suit in the store?
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FREEDOMoverFEAR
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:02pmI bet your grocery bill would be reduced 100%.
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Exrepublisheep
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:20pmlol FREEDOMOVERFEAR
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barber2
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:23pmDon’t think this would have bothered me so much BEFORE the Obama Administration. But the Far Left Big Brother, 16 oz. limits on sugar, divisive, hate the rich, anti-capitalist, “you didn’t make this,” welfare without work rules, union dominated, OWS sympathizing , Israel distancing, UN loving, Muslim Brotherhood favoring, Character Assassination spewing, Media controlling, and polarizing Obama Administration is frightening , classic science fiction government ! NOBAMA 2012 NO DEMOCRATS 2012
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jcldwl
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:35pmAgreed but I wouldn’t accept it from any administration. This will be used against us to keep us in line. There is nothing good about it and before long they will be in our houses as soon as the government owns all housing.
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FREEDOMoverFEAR
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:06pmThe begining of this was Prohibition and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Give women the right to vote they’ll find something they need to change to make society better. Why do you think that most single women vote overwhelmingly democratic? They don’t have a man to tell them how to think.
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TRILO
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:59pmYou should NEVER, NEVER accept this at any level!!!! The government has no right to know who you are and what you are doing if you are not breaking the law. Having your face, personal profile, e-mails, texts, blogs, etc, etc stored on a government database just waiting for that special “someday” when they deem your behavior inappropriate is wrong no matter how you want to rationalize it.
Wake the hell up!!!!!!
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girlnurse
Posted on September 11, 2012 at 3:52amFREEDOMOVERFEAR: Are you serious? Don’t look now but:
Of the 535 members of the 108th Congress, 74 were women.
These men can’t stop sitting around coming up with new laws we don’t need and changing stuff that doesn’t need changing!
Man you sure are a women hater. Or are u just a troll trying to divide people any way you can?
It doesn’t matter, it’s not about dividing men and women. Its the government against all of US!
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dickdastardly
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:15pm“Attention all planets of the Solar Federation, we have assumed control.”
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watersRpeople
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:13pmMoney is gone, and people’s understanding is gone, and a super-nova of government will exhaust every last bit of money from people’s spirit. Then Big brother will fade away.
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watersRpeople
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:11pmA dying carcass breathes it’s hardest just before it blinks out of existence.
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randy
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:46pmAnd that’s when it’s the most dangerous…
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teapartyconservatism
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:10pmBe afraid, be very afraid! Obama often omits ‘Creator’ when speaking of ‘unalienable’ rights, reducing rights bestowed by God, to mere privileges permitted by politicians. The usurper loathes our Constitution.
Boehner and so called conservative leaders extolling biblical and patriotic principles have hypocritically condoned the moral relativism of ignoring Article 2, Section 1, of our Constitution by tolerating the usurpation of the Office of the President.*
Obama is ineligible!
1. Not a ‘natural born citizen’ as deductively defined and required by Art 2, Sec 1.*
2. Born a British citizen pursuant to 1948 British Nationality Act.
Obama may not even be a U.S. citizen!
1. Police prove birth certificate & selective service registration fraudulent.
2. Hawaii routinely registered foreign ‘unattended births’ as born in HI.
3. Mom’s age precluded transferring citizenship if foreign born.
4. Indonesian citizenship after adoption.
5. Multiple aliases.
6. Stolen CT SS#.
Demand Congress depose and prosecute Obama and his co-conspirators! Any politician or judge refusing this duty in violation of their oath of office, must also be regarded as a co-conspirator and similarly deposed or voted out of office.
Restore economic sanity, limited government and adherence to our Constitution. VOTE!
* http://www.obamabirthcertificate.net
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progressiveslayer
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:50pmYou’re correct on all counts and Barry and crew should be prosecuted for treason and or fraud even after he’s defeated in November.Is there a snowballs chance Barry will be convicted let alone charged of a crime? No, but it needs to be done because the integrity of our voting system and republic is at stake.
I’ve read all about BHO or BS or whatever name he’s used over the years and based on everything I’ve seen he was most likely a foreign exchange student making him ineligible for POTUS.I never thought I’d see the day a foreign born person would ascend to the office of POTUS.he’s a fraud.
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BoyScout_Mom
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 8:00pmYes, et al needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent for the obvious reasons you both state, but here is another one… Today, on Dennis Prager’s show, Michael Medved outlines Zero’s self-proclaimed plans for 2016 should he be defeated in November. Medved claims he is openly stating to others that he will run in 2016… already… and claims he will receive the nomination again. The head of this snake and others needs to be removed.
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thegreatcarnac
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:09pmMasks….when needed.
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Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:16pmI’ve always said that those who are just don’t need masks. I think I may need to change my beliefs.
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762x51
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:17pmThat would be all the time.
Hmmm, maybe a new market for light, cool, breathable ski masks for hot weather. A wool ski mask in Las Vegas in August would suck.
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barber2
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:33pmROTH: Gives new significance to those Guy Fawkes masks !
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Psychosis
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:08pminfrared led lights in a hat brim completely render these cameras useless
suck it big brother
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cubber
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:00pmBe prepared ! ! ! !
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762x51
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:14pmTo die fighting? I am.
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watersRpeople
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:17pmBe prepared for what – them fading away? Sooner or later they will cannibalize each other, and it themselves into fading away.
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watersRpeople
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:22pm762×51,
After-all the Good Book does say the sea will give up the dead. I’ll be watching from the high-lands with pop-corn in hand watching all of you who do not understand.
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Exrepublisheep
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:00pmIt will be run by the brownshirts and the TSA. Only repubs will be scanned. You’ll need to present your face to move around the FEMA camps you’ve been moved to.
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hi
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 5:57pmI don’t like it. I want to be free.
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Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:15pmHI,
So what are you (we) going to do?
Our country was created by a resistance to tyranny not even close to the tyranny we experience today. The intolerable acts were the genesis of the revolution and the fuse to the Boston Tea Party.
Our DoI says:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Do we refuse to provide our consent? No. Do we resist? No. Do we elect officials who honor and uphold the constitution? No. Is our government even a constitutional republic anymore? No. Are we being stolen from, harassed, searched, scanned, confiscated from, roughed up by police, etc? YES.
Not a peep. 300M sheep.
“Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.” John Parker at Lexington.
Who will be a John Parker now? Who will join him and who will slink away into the shadows of oppression?
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riseandshine
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:20pmWell…there’s always Canada….nevermind…they let us know last week that they don’t want to be left out of the New World Order.
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