Loss of Privacy

photo by Mark W. Stroud

In a California military base, marines are being trained on how to collect biometrics from civilians. Intended for use in Afghanistan, this training could have implications elsewhere.

Military policeman with Combat Logistics Battalion 4 participated in tactical site exploitation training at the training city of Wardah-Mir, Marine Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., Nov. 18.

The Marines conducted foot-patrols, room clearing and search operations where they collected biometric data and other evidence on citizens displaying suspicious behavior or possessing contraband.

“We are trying to give the Marines the skill set to assist the Afghan government in criminal prosecutions and to help teach the Afghan National Police these skills,” said Patrick Garrahan, law enforcement professional, Tactical Training Exercise Control Group, MAGCC Twentynine Palms.

Suspects were processed using a handheld interagency identity detection equipment system, which compared their biometric data, such as fingerprints and iris scans, to a central database, according to Apsey.

The training is meant as a way to help marines detect those who make bombs though how biometric data will do that is unclear. One must first collect biometric data on individuals that, presumably, have done nothing wrong. Then, later, when a person is suspected of making a bomb, their identities can be verified with the biometric data already in the military database.

Members at the Desert Schools Federal Credit Union in Phoenix now have another layer of security in being identified; voice biometrics.

Plans are in place to use voice biometrics first for password re-sets and high-risk transactions such as ACH and wire transfers for business members. The solution is then used in the call center to authenticate members asking for help from member service representatives, according to Desert Schools.

The opt-in process for authentication begins with the member calling the system and basically leaving a voice mail that takes about 50 seconds to complete, at which point their unique characteristics are then extracted mathematically and put into a voice template, said Gary Laieski, chief information officer at Desert Schools.

The member then gets a call back and request for information such as a member number or PIN to be used. After verification confirms that it’s the same voice, members are good to go, according to the credit union. The process should only take 10 seconds or so. It also provides a means of authentication that while relatively new to the financial services industry, has actually been around for a while, much like its fingerprint counterpart.

Some kinks in the system still need to be worked out, however the Credit Union says that it’s only a matter of time before everything works smoother and faster. It should also be noted that they are taking the correct approach and making this opt-in rather than opt-out.

The FBI is adding facial scanning, iris scanning, and palm scanning to its biometrics databases at the Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) and its getting some help from the DOD to accomplish this mission.

CJIS is responsible for information repositories–such as the National Crime Information Center, the Interstate Identification Index, and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System–that provide law-enforcement officers with real-time data on people’s criminal history, stolen property, missing persons, and other information.

The additional biometric information will be added to the system that can already track fingerprints.

CJIS processes about 140,000 requests a day through the system, double the number it could handle on a good day a few years ago, he said. Moreover, the algorithm is allowing the FBI to match fingerprints at 99% accuracy versus 92%, which was the previous norm.

The FBI also added facial-recognition and iris-scan systems to its biometrics matching system–which is gradually replacing its predecessor, the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System–and next year will be able to match palm prints for the first time, he said.

To further its work in biometrics, the FBI is teaming with the Department of Defense to build a Biometrics Technology Center on its FBI campus in Clarksburg, West Virginia, Cutherbertson said. The center, which will focus on research to advance biometrics technology, is due to be completed in spring of 2014. “It will be a tremendous resource to carry us into the future,” Cutherbertson said.

With the inclusion of multiple points of biometric data, the FBI hopes to improve security at home. The research conducted at the new Biometrics Technology Center will also allow the FBI to accomplish one of its other goals, biometrically identifying individuals on the internet.

Researchers at Wuhan University, National Research Council of Canada and the Center for Functional Genomics at the University at Albany have been working together to create GMO rice that contains human blood protein chemically identical to human serum albumin. This protein is normally obtained by extracting it from blood donors. It is then used to treat patients with burns and liver disease, but blood donors can now be bypassed with a GMO synthetic version.

Read the rest of my article at The Daily Censored.