National Security Versus Privacy Rights: FBI Facial Recognition System Fully Operational in U.S.

The FBI's biometric database system is fully operational and will be activated across the United States, according to Activist Post.

The FBI announced the launch of the Next Generation Identification system (NGI) on September 15, 2014. According to Activist Post, the NGI includes advanced finger printing technologies, facial recognition, and iris scans "that are collated into a central database for real-time sharing at all levels of law enforcement and government agencies."

Though the FBI states in its press release that the NGI is an “investigative tool" to help identify criminals via photo matching, Activist Post speculates that there is nothing to stop the FBI from cataloging the entire U.S. population.

Catching criminals often involves crossing national borders, though, and privacy concerns extend beyond the U.S. which has extradition treaties with over 100 nations. The NGI has already been used in at least one international case involving a U.S. fugitive who was hiding out in Nepal, reports Activist Post.

Though NGI is not currently known to be in use in Thailand, Thailand international airports already photograph all persons entering and exiting the Kingdom. Additionally, Thailand law enforcement agencies have had a robust relationship with U.S. law enforcement agencies for decades. Currently, Thailand is home to an FBI-sponsored international law enforcement academy. In the past 30 years under the Thailand-USA Extradition Treaty, 135 fugitives have been extradited from Thailand to the U.S.

These facts illustrate how easily the NGI could be initiated, not only in Thailand, but in other nations around the world.   

Read the full FBI biometric database story here.

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Related Documents:
Thailand-USA Extradition Treaty
Thailand Extradition Legal Counsel

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