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Uncle Sam wants to scan your iris and collect your DNA, citizen or not

theregister.com

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Re: Uncle Sam wants to scan your iris and collect your DNA, citizen or not

#101

Post by hedora »

abeppu wrote: post #40
y-curious wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every time I fly from SFO, there’s a face-tracking camera that takes your photo after you stand up close to it. There’s definitely some sort of data harvesting there and there’s no opt out that I know about. I also have Clear, which was voluntary but certainly collected my biometric data years ago. I also have Global Entry, which has a similar scanning tech to point 1.

Yeah, I think the crappy side of it at this point is that the biometric data they collect is never leveraged to help you as a citizen. If I lose my passport while abroad, given that the government has my fingerprints etc, why can't I use those biometrics to reenter the country (and have a replacement passport reissued immediately)? Officially, you are supposed to be able to opt out of the face recognition cameras at…

The camera at SJC says it deletes the scan immediately after querying the database.

That makes opt out (which the sign says is allowed) kinda pointless, unless the opt out also deletes the existing database entries.

Tl;dr, I don’t bother opting out.

Re: Uncle Sam wants to scan your iris and collect your DNA, citizen or not

#102

Post by bobmcnamara »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #71
rzerowan wrote: post #67

One thing that i would prefer in biometrics would be that the iris/fingerprints get treated as what they are publicly available and easily obtainable data. At worst using it a a secret key is similar to using your name as a hidden variable for authorisation, whent it sshould strictly be a identification token.And once leaked you cant revoke it . Back on topic , a Gattaca type system is unbelievably bleak and when(not…

It'll be treated just as stupidly as Social Security numbers, and soon we'll have biometric data breaches. >sigh Aside: Social Security numbers should be public now, too. That ship sailed a long time ago and it should be recognized.

Hey now, at least I'm able to change my social security number and passwords.

Good luck changing eyes.

Re: Uncle Sam wants to scan your iris and collect your DNA, citizen or not

#104

Post by jandrewrogers »

yannyu wrote: post #22
jedberg wrote: post #15

Did you know that the State of California has a DNA sample from every person born in the state since 1983? It's required by law for the hospital to collect it and give it to the state.

This is a particularly incendiary way of putting this information out there. What is collected and stored is a small blood-spot sample from a heel prick on a newborn. This is used to test for various kinds of conditions that affect newborns. This isn't a full DNA genome sequence or even any data at all, just the blood-spot specimen. Law enforcement does not have automatic access to this sample, but individual samples…

The blood sample isn’t a DNA sample right up until the point they decide to sequence it. This is the same legal doctrine allowing the government to systematically collect all of your personal data without violating your privacy as long they don’t look at what they collect without a warrant.

The government has granted themselves an option on your personal data that can’t be revoked.

Re: Uncle Sam wants to scan your iris and collect your DNA, citizen or not

#105

Post by duped »

rzerowan wrote: post #67

One thing that i would prefer in biometrics would be that the iris/fingerprints get treated as what they are publicly available and easily obtainable data. At worst using it a a secret key is similar to using your name as a hidden variable for authorisation, whent it sshould strictly be a identification token.And once leaked you cant revoke it . Back on topic , a Gattaca type system is unbelievably bleak and when(not…

Why should they be publicly available and easily obtainable?

Re: Uncle Sam wants to scan your iris and collect your DNA, citizen or not

#106

Post by tantalor »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #104
yannyu wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a particularly incendiary way of putting this information out there. What is collected and stored is a small blood-spot sample from a heel prick on a newborn. This is used to test for various kinds of conditions that affect newborns. This isn't a full DNA genome sequence or even any data at all, just the blood-spot specimen. Law enforcement does not have automatic access to this sample, but individual samples…

The blood sample isn’t a DNA sample right up until the point they decide to sequence it. This is the same legal doctrine allowing the government to systematically collect all of your personal data without violating your privacy as long they don’t look at what they collect without a warrant. The government has granted themselves an option on your personal data that can’t be revoked.

They can arrest you (with a warrant) and take your DNA whenever they want so I don't see what your point is.

Re: Uncle Sam wants to scan your iris and collect your DNA, citizen or not

#107

Post by metricshome »

It’s somewhat important to point out that this is the same thing that was done during the Iraq war to potential “insurgents” so the biometrics tech was “trained” and used experimentally there before it has been brought home. Wouldn’t be surprised if the people that used it in Iraq (as technicians) are now going to be the people operating the tech now in the US.

Re: Uncle Sam wants to scan your iris and collect your DNA, citizen or not

#108

Post by jandrewrogers »

tantalor wrote: post #106
jandrewrogers wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The blood sample isn’t a DNA sample right up until the point they decide to sequence it. This is the same legal doctrine allowing the government to systematically collect all of your personal data without violating your privacy as long they don’t look at what they collect without a warrant. The government has granted themselves an option on your personal data that can’t be revoked.

They can arrest you (with a warrant) and take your DNA whenever they want so I don't see what your point is.

They don’t need to arrest you to obtain your DNA, which is the entire point. They don’t need to arrest you to use your DNA, previously collected, to identify a family member.

The government has my biometrics. Most people should assume, by default, that the government has theirs as well.

Re: Uncle Sam wants to scan your iris and collect your DNA, citizen or not

#109

Post by ronsor »

duped wrote: post #105
rzerowan wrote: post #67

One thing that i would prefer in biometrics would be that the iris/fingerprints get treated as what they are publicly available and easily obtainable data. At worst using it a a secret key is similar to using your name as a hidden variable for authorisation, whent it sshould strictly be a identification token.And once leaked you cant revoke it . Back on topic , a Gattaca type system is unbelievably bleak and when(not…

Why should they be publicly available and easily obtainable?

1. Most people already share this data in the form of photos posted online.

2. So people don't treat it as a "secure secret," because we've been down this road more than once before.

Re: Uncle Sam wants to scan your iris and collect your DNA, citizen or not

#110

Post by djmips »

tito wrote: post #70
jedberg wrote: post #15

Did you know that the State of California has a DNA sample from every person born in the state since 1983? It's required by law for the hospital to collect it and give it to the state.

I just got back from the Millennium Seed Bank in the UK and was marveling at the size of a small footprint facility that stores samples of more than 10% of all known living plants. Reading this thread, I was curious about what the size of California's sample collection looks like. I made an estimate using a little 1ul vial and an estimated 40 million people born in California since 1930. 100 samples in each box means…

California has been storing the samples in its biobank since 1983 not 1930.
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