Agency doesn't want to report anymore about how it uses the database, and whose details are stored inside it

May 7, 2016 22:40 GMT  ·  By

This past Thursday, the FBI proposed that its biometric database be exempt from several provisions of the Privacy Act, US legislation that mandates that any federal agency must inform individuals about the records they collect and keep about them.

The FBI's Next Generation Identification System (NGIS) is a database of biometrics information such as fingerprints, eye scans, facial scans, and even DNA samples.

The database is often used to identify crime suspects, and while in past times the database was rarely used, with the emergence of modern biometrics authentication systems, the database's importance has grown tenfold because it also allows the FBI access to locked devices.

But don't be fooled. The database doesn't include only information on people that committed crimes. NGIS also includes details from people that had at one point in time their fingerprint or iris scanned for jobs, security clearances, or licenses.

Practically, any person that has ever served in the military, as a volunteer, applied for a government-paid job, or interacted with the government for naturalization, documents, and other processes is already in the database.

The FBI is trying to grow the database without anyone else finding out

The FBI is now seeking to hide activity relating to the operation of this database, and the people it includes. Back in 2015, after a long battle in court, the Electronic Frontier Foundation discovered that the database already contained details for over 52 million people. The US has a population of around 320 million.

In March 2016, The San Diego Union-Tribune discovered that the FBI was actively going after biometrics data contained in private databases managed by services such as Ancestry.com and 23andme.

Many privacy groups argue that the FBI should be revealing how it uses all this data, not attempting to cover it, like they're trying to do with this latest proposal.