Iris Scans
 

Remember when I said this would happen, and many people said it would never happen. Guess what? It just happened.

What you may ask? Drive through parts of North Carolina, get pulled for speeding - and you are now forced to submit your iris (retina) scan to the national crime database of scans which are being used to 'track sex offenders'. Of course if your innocent of being a sex offender, your iris will be stored on the computer (and your personal details already avilable from your drivers licenses) along with the criminals. And as the article states - more areas are starting to do this.

Papers please? Hah - it's more like 1984 - please stand still while we scan your eyes for identification so that you may travel.

As I said before - the government will institute all these new draconian measures hidden under the guise as keeping people safe from terrorists, sex offenders, or whatever other bogeyman they can use to scare people into submitting and giving up their personal rights.

Since checking every driver to make sure they are not a 'terrorist' seems far fetched, as terrorists wouldn't have their scans in the database, the next best thing 'sex offenders' appears to be the form they will use.

Much like the 'candyland' sting operations two years back, when the FBI broke a dozen constitution laws to catch 'child pornographers', of course in the same sting they investigated 4 times as many people as were arrested - the rest weren't involved in the child porn - but other crimes, and the FBI wanted to bypass all laws and perform illegal searches, detentions, etc.

But when it hit the news the public supported it because they were 'fighting child porn', but no one said shite about the other few dozen men who weren't doing anything other than pissing off the government in one way or another and they had their homes/businesses/etc. searched illegally for no reason.

Welcome to 1984. ;)

Glad I live in a country without social security numbers, national drivers licenses, and national crime database computer systems.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13880045/site/newsweek/

Newsweek

July 24, 2006 issue - Authorities have gained a new high-tech tool to keep track of sex offenders: the Sex Offender Registry and Identification System (SORIS), a biometric database that stores images of sex offenders' irises. The system will be introduced this week in Mecklenburg County, N.C., the first to adopt the technology. Deputies take a photo of an offender's irises—a unique human identifier—and enter it into a laptop that connects wirelessly to a national database managed by BI2 Technologies, which makes the equipment. As the database grows, law enforcement will be able to scan the irises of a suspected criminal and check for a match. The response is instantaneous—quicker than trolling through regular databases of sex-offender names. The main goal is to identify the tens of thousands of sex offenders nationally who fail to register in the county where they reside, as required by law. "We're going to track down every sex offender," says Mecklenburg Sheriff Jim Pendergraph.

For SORIS to succeed, of course, counties nationwide will have to sign up. Though the technology was unveiled only a few weeks ago, many have already expressed interest, says BI2 CEO Sean Mullin. Pendergraph plans to photograph the irises of every sex offender in the county, either visiting them at home or calling them into the station (he says they can't refuse). And once his deputies get soon-to-be-offered PDA devices that connect to the system, they plan to scan the irises of people they pull over and suspect of having committed a crime. All of which dismays civil-liberties advocates. "The potential privacy invasion ... makes me nervous," says Richard Wright, a member of the Massachusetts ACLU board. He also doubts whether it will even be effective. "If a sex offender wants to commit a crime they will commit a crime," he says. "It doesn't matter what technology police put together."

Although yes this is a violation in my opinion of one's rights I must say it can protect. But then again this is why people have been fingerprinted and such for this kind of cause. I mean it sort of does forces one to give up their rights and violate their privacy a little, but it could be for good use.

So what about people wearing contact lenses...? o_0 "Please stand still while we scan your iris... uh... why isn't it working... will you please take off your contacts?" ?!

I don't like this, either. But then, I've always been one of those "Fuck Authority" people.

I dislike it.
How can people trust their government if their government does not trust them? Those who rule are meant to democratically elected from the people by the people- they are meant to represent the people and their interests. I do not see wiretaps, iris scans, etc as being in the interests of the majority of the people.
There are other ways of protecting people, ways that do not involve invading the privacy and rights of innocent citizens. Spending more money on functional policing bodies, and less on high-tech invasive rubbish and big government pay-packets would be a good start.

And from the front pages of the news today, the technique they will use to get around all those pesky laws...

Kids buy lunches with scans of fingers

http://news.**********/s/ap/20060905...te/finger_food

ROME, Ga. - The never-ending march of technology now means school children here can pay for their cafeteria sloppy joes with their fingers.

Rome City Schools is switching to a scanning system that lets students use their fingerprints to access their accounts. In the past, students had to punch in their pin numbers.

"The finger's better because all you've got to do is put your finger in, and you don't have to do the number and get mixed up," said Adrianna Harris, a second grader at Anna K. Davie Elementary School.

The new system speeds lunch lines, said city administrators. It's being phased in to Rome High School, Rome Middle School and all the city's elementary schools. The city hopes to have the system in use next month system-wide.

Some parents are uneasy with having their children's fingerprints scanned, and wonder about how well the information is secured.

"It may be perfectly secure, but my daughter is a minor and I understand that supposedly the kids have the option to not have their prints scanned, but that's not being articulated to my daughter," said Hal Storey, who's daughter is a 10th grader at Rome High.

Thats right, kids today will now be forced to use their fingerprint to buy school lunches in america. This new 'system' gaurentees a few things.

First, by setting it up first in areas like georgia, where there is a very high right-wing republican/christian base they are assured there will be little to no arguments. After it takes hold here, they can move into other districts, with new 'reports' from the georgia district showing it speeds up lunch lines, and does other crap they will flaunt in efforts to get schools nationwide into the program, which at some point I'm sure will be mandatory.

As this happens there are two things happening behinds the scenes -

1. Kids are getting used to being fingerprinted on a daily basis. To them, it's going to be normal, institiutionalising the practice while they are children allows the government to do it later without any resisitance. Kids who get fingerprinted daily now have no problems in doing it later in life.

2. It allows the government to make a database of every person in america - with fingerprints. Those systems are hooked to school 'accounts' that hold money put in by parents. You think that every piece of identification of the parents isn't in there? This new system allows students and parent to be well documented along with the childs fingerprint - all without any warrants.

In a few years, every person in america will have their fingerprints on file with the federal government.

Not saying I agree with it, but most people view this stuff in a vacuum. They view it as if there are only two ends of the spectrum: freedom and no freedom. . With total freedom comes no security; with total security comes no freedom. Hopefully people can agree to be somewhere in the middle. However, most people are content to watch their reality TV, eat their processed food, let XBox and PS2 raise their kids, let someone else think for them, and then bitch about it later. It really scares me to think I may slightly, in some nominal way, be in something akin to agreement with Sternn. Excuse me while I go vomit.

The government will have all our fingerprints... I'm sorry, but why is this such a terrible thing?

This is one more violation of our rights. We have a government who strips us of our privacy and bit by bit, our independence as people. They strip us of our freedom and hand us some false promise of greater safety. This promise will crumble before our eyes, as each measure before it has, and eventually be used against us a as a whole. What ever happened to accountability in regards to ones' own safety?

I bring up something again that has been sidestepped many times. It has even stopped a thread or two. It is a simple question, in hopes of obtaining an answer, or perhaps at least a suggestion.


What do we do about it? Honestly? What can we really, truly do to correct the situation? Bitching about it is all well and good, thinking about your position on issues and coming to a decision is even better. But it doesn't solve the root problem. It comes down to a power struggle, one in which the opponent is stronger, richer, has a better system of information gathering, and by whom we are out strategized.

What is to be done that will actually be effective? What can we do to secure our freedom, our privacy, and our hard-won right to an independent way of life?

I don't mind them having my fingerprints, but I don't really like that for some jobs with the government they collect your DNA.

Some of this stuff can be useful, I mean it can be used to help protect. But then again, it does sorta go in the category of violtaing your rights. But I would think it can be useful.

I can understand the desire for security, but having such total knowledge of people won't really help matters. Crimes will still be committed without anyone being caught- fingerprints? Just wear gloves!
The increased security measures that have implemented in the last five years haven't actually resulted in greater security for the people. Violent crime rates have risen in America, even if petty crime has gone down. That doesn't suggest security to me. People may say 'ah! But there haven't been any more terrorist attacks!'- wrong. The rest of the world is getting hit, you see. London, for example, and the bombings in Mumbai.
Increased security measures such as full-populace fingerprinting are ineffectual. How the hell are they meant to offer security, anyway? You won't be able to tell who's going to commit the crimes until it's done, or through phone taps and mail monitoring.

In the next big brother like step for america...

Calif. schools to fingerprint students

http://news.**********/s/ap/20061105...ltBHNlYwM3MTY-

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - A plan to fingerprint elementary school students when they buy lunch has some parents worrying that Big Brother has come to the cafeteria.

The Hope Elementary School District has notified parents that, beginning this month, students at Monte Vista, Vieja Valley and Hope elementary schools will press an index finger to a scanner before buying cafeteria food.

The scan will call up the student's name and student ID, teacher's name and how much the student owes, since some receive government assistance for food.

It is meant to speed up cafeteria lines.

"It raises sanitary issues, privacy issues — it is kind of Orwellian," said Tina Dabby, a parent of two at Monte Vista Elementary. "It just sounds kind of creepy."

Currently, the information is written on paper and transferred to computer so reports can be compiled and sent to the state and federal governments, which reimburse school districts for the subsidized lunches served.

"It's so archaic to transfer something from a sheet of paper to a computer day by day," Hope schools Superintendent Gerrie Fausett told the Santa Barbara News-Press.

A similar procedure is already in use in the Santa Barbara School Districts, where students punch a six-digit number into a keypad that calls up their name, photograph and other details, including whether they have any food allergies.

Thats right, new federal programs for fingerprinting ALL students are being deployed nationwide. This is also happening in Georgia. Tis only a matter of time before the us government has everyones fingerprint in their national database. Not worried? Why worry when your government treats everyone like a common criminal, collecting data, fingerprints, iris scans, and dna from everyone. Pay no attention, just go about your daily routine.

Wow, that is creepy. I mean what's next, mugshots just in case they get in trouble later on??? My God.

I have no idea what you are talking about. I live in North Carolina and keep myself updated on current events in my state, and I have never heard of anyone getting a retina scan. Are you sure your sources are credible?

It could work. Just like communism. And as communism, it won't.

Welcome year 1984.

true....very true. However, I understand why poeple think this is a violation of privacy. The fingerprinting elementary students is a bit far-fetched, but the government already has some people's fingerprints. It could be helpful to society, or it could be a waste of money. I don't know.

For now I'm staying neutral. I'm not in the "flaming people" mood. :)

i geuss i just wont be eating lunch anymore. big brother isnt getting my print. this is exactly why im not haveing kids the worlds going to shit. pretty soon americans arnt gonna have any freedom.

I'm not really concerned about it. It's just a new method of don't something old. First it was papers, then it was fingerprints. I heard years ago about some places using digital face scans. Retina scans are just the next step. It's not a step toward lesser freedoms, it's just the natural evolution of using technology to be able to identify people with greater ease.

Subdermal implants is where things start getting a little fucked...

ohhh god the chip now thats gonna suck

The iris thing kind of creeps me out, but not so much the fingerprints - not the fact of having it on file, just that they'd use it when you get a speeding ticket or simple things like that. Next thing you know they'll scan your eyes or finger prints to purchase things with credit or checking accounts - I'm sure that will be very common within 5 years, if not sooner.

Also, in case you guys don't already know this, there is going to be a new federally mandated photo identification card in March (or is it May) of 2008 - one of the many possible problems with it is that the individual states are required to fund it without any federal help. The claim is that this will help "National Security" but part of the underlying idea is to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to have fake IDs - which isn't necessarilly a bad thing, but it can certainly be abused.

Another problem is that there will be a federal database with everyone's driving record, SS numbers, address, height, weight, birthday, etc, which makes everyone more vulnerable to identity theft if hackers can find their way into the database. Currently driving record info is only available to other states via the state that issued said license or ID.

Heh, the funny thing is at Defcon this year they had a demo on how to beat the new biometric ID's using cheap computer stuff available online. They were able to bypass all the new department of homeland security techniques and make new ID's that were even easier to fake than the old ones. In fact, the new chips make things even EASIER.

How so you ask? Well its like this. You can buy chips online that will respond like the ones in the new passports. You then either make a passport from scratch using tools availabel online or on overseas vendor who sells them 'for entertainment purposes'. Then simply use free software, or purchase the programmers kit for the actual passports which is availabel online and re-program your chip to whatever you want it to be.

They also took new US passports and used readily available software online to copy passport information from one passport to another. If the person resembles you then your set - you can copy their chip and your good to go.

Best part is, this fooled even some of the best experts who were there to witness it. The only way one can look for this is if a very keen eyed specialist were manning the booth checking for a specfici passport. Considering minimum wage persons with a high turnover rate will be checking these things as fast as possible at most airports, its safe to say these new biometric ID's will be less secure than the old ones, especially since the american goverment is looking to have the computers do most of the work so they can save costs on man power.

it just goes to show you the extent of human ingenuity, although it shouldn't be necessary in the first place. Welcome back.

You're giving me ideas, CptSternn! :D

I mean seriously - the us government is trying to 'automate' and 'digitise' all the security now and remove the human factor in efforts to setup basically what can be described as an Orwellian society.

There are a number of states with 100% CCTV coverage in all main public areas. This is nothing new - 100% of britian has this too.

That being said the brits claimed back in the 80's when they setup the system it was to stop 'terrorists'. Of course, to date, that have caught all of zero with their system. They have however caught tonnes of drunks, given countless automated speeding tickets and basically spying on the movements of various public officials and other 'persons of interest'.

Goes to show now matter how high your security level is it all comes down to the human factor. The less people, and less educated people you put in the system the lower the return on the system.

Also remember there hasn't been a security system, software protection system, or music/video protection scheme that wasn't bypassed in a manner of hours by some group of teens somewhere.

I can't wait until those multi-billion dollar national id's go public and some teen sets up a website with detailed instructions on how to bypass the whole system - much like the 20 million and five years the MPAA spent creating CSS, which a 13 year old in Denmark bypassed in an hour after it hit the market.

I'll make sure we have a copy posted here ;)

Neat, the days of ShadowRun seem to be coming. Countries are starting to band together in ever greater clusters, security is becoming more automated, and things are getting cloned!

...Wooo, now if I could only get cool cybernetic enhancements. I can see it now!

**I can see for five miles with my telescopic eyes! ...? Wait Error: 541? Blue screen of death? Dah freaking Windows! &%*@!