Posted on Sep 23, 2015
Should the government have a biometric data base of all citizens?
3.91K
53
36
4
4
0
Government
Crime
FBI
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 16
0
0
0
For conspiracy theory folks, what makes you think that they do not already have that?
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
I think that fingerprints and the likes should be automatically entered into the FBI data base for everyone rather than just criminals or people applying for certain jobs. Could make tracing suspects involved in violent crimes far easier.
We do need to be careful to some extent as to how far we got with what we track on our people. We want to be able to track down criminals but we need to be doing it in a way that isn't going to be violating the rights or privacy of the innocent.
We do need to be careful to some extent as to how far we got with what we track on our people. We want to be able to track down criminals but we need to be doing it in a way that isn't going to be violating the rights or privacy of the innocent.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
I can understand the concern, but yes. The problem with the criminal database was that it was only any good the second time a criminal did something (after they'd been caught once). This makes the job of tracking them down pretty hard. Combining the two just makes sense.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
1LT William Clardy
SGM Steve Wettstein, you might be surprised at how hard it would be to find a law-abiding citizen these days -- the average person breaks several laws every day, and that's without even worrying about getting caught up in "guilt by association". How comfortable would you be with having a National Security Letter issued to your bank, requesting access to your financial records, because you order pizza from the same place as the guy across town who's been swapping emails with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula?
(0)
(0)
1LT William Clardy
SGM Steve Wettstein, my statement has little to do with biometrics per se, but quite a lot to do with the "if you haven't broken any laws, what's there to worry about" mentality.
Most people do not realize how much we have criminalized everyday activities, nor do they realize how broad a net law-enforcement and intelligence agencies will cast in their pursuit of criminals and perceived threats (both real and imaginary). My recollection is that the FBI has issued tens of thousands of National Security letters each year for the last few years. If asked to justify all that investigation, how simple it is to look for anything prosecutable just to skew the numbers so that "led to x criminal prosecutions" looks impressive instead of pitiful.
Most people do not realize how much we have criminalized everyday activities, nor do they realize how broad a net law-enforcement and intelligence agencies will cast in their pursuit of criminals and perceived threats (both real and imaginary). My recollection is that the FBI has issued tens of thousands of National Security letters each year for the last few years. If asked to justify all that investigation, how simple it is to look for anything prosecutable just to skew the numbers so that "led to x criminal prosecutions" looks impressive instead of pitiful.
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google