FBI constructing huge biometric database

In a move that could well see it gain access to the world’s biggest database of physical personal attributes, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US is injecting a cool $1 billion USD into a project designed to gather massive amounts of personal biometric information. FBI constructing world's largest biometric database to aid in capture of criminals and terrorists. Credit: FBI.

FBI constructing world's largest biometric database to aid in capture of criminals and terrorists. Credit: FBI.And the project is already underway, reports the Denver Post, which states that facial images, fingerprints, and palm pattern information relating to the national and international community is already being amassed by the Bureau via a "climate-controlled, secure basement," located in Clarksburg, West Virginia.The gathering of such a massive biometric database will likely ruffle the feathers of those concerned about the state of individual privacy in the US. A point potentially exasperated by the FBI’s willingness to honour any requests from employers to hold the fingerprint information of employees that have been subjected to a criminal background check. This will be put in place through the project so that employers can be informed if their employees ever come into contact with the law.It is also expected that the database will soon be able to identify criminals and terrorists by drawing from pools of personal information relating to iris patterns of the human eye, specific face-shape data, physical scarring, and even individual nuances connected to walking patterns.Criticism directed towards the FBI’s project has said that such a database would leave individuals exposed as little more than living, breathing identification cards. The project has already resulted in doubters claiming its effectiveness at isolating criminals should be verified before the database system is fully incorporated. The FBI is expected to issue a decade-long contract connected to the ambitious biometric database as early as January of 2008.