The Federal Bureau of Investigation has unveiled the latest technology in its continued search to track down criminals. The newest system the FBI has in use uses biometrics and will cost more than $1 billion to be implemented. The Next Generation Identification program as it is called has a goal to significantly enhance the fingerprinting identification service that is currently being used.
Advocates for personal privacy might be bothered by the new technology, but the federal agency is determined it will use iris scanning, voice recognition, DNA analysis and facial recognition when searching for those who broke the law, with all concerns aside for both reliability and its accuracy. The new program is said also to include latent and rolled palm and fingerprints. A new pilot program has been implemented by the FBI and works by compiling all the information for many different purposes. For instance, photos are made of different faces in a crowd. The images are in turn compared to a huge database the agency has of stored images from previous security footage.
The algorithm used in the new program automatically searches and then returns the potential matches to officers within the agency. The technology also includes a new database that will store scars found on bodies, tattoos or any other marks that could be used to help identify an individual.
This particular information has been collected for quite some time by the FBI. However, the latest program will be sent out nationwide, which is a first for the FBI. The agency is also planning to give database access to other types of law enforcement at both the state and local level.
