FBI Unveils $1 Billion Facial Recognition System

Status
Not open for further replies.

xurwin

Distinguished
Mar 7, 2010
459
0
18,810
why not pour it all on the R&D department and make some cool batman or james bond kind of items. that would be pretty sweet and helpful of course. they could make a Batman to save almost everybody. 1billion is alot of cash though
 

TeraMedia

Distinguished
Jan 26, 2006
904
1
18,990
Great. Now we'll have to watch a sequel with Shia LeBoeuf running all over the countryside, unwittingly helping execute a plot to kill people. Except this time, it won't be the Air Force's system but rather the FBI's.

Now if they connect this technology up to peoples' camera phones, that could be truly scary. Who needs a tinfoil hat when you can wear a prosthetic nose.
 

back_by_demand

Splendid
BANNED
Jul 16, 2009
4,821
0
22,780
[citation][nom]outlw6669[/nom]92% accurate, 8% rate of false identification.Yeup, no chance that this will cause any issues....[/citation]
That is still 92% more effective than an un-fingerprinted terrorist that we have a photo of
 
[citation][nom]back_by_demand[/nom]That is still 92% more effective than an un-fingerprinted terrorist that we have a photo of[/citation]
Until they shave/grow a beard or put on glasses, makeup, etc.....
 

back_by_demand

Splendid
BANNED
Jul 16, 2009
4,821
0
22,780
So if this is rolled out in airports, does that mean the FBI will have a database of anyone using air travel? Exactly how many people do you think will be placed into a crime database without permission or knowledge in just 12 months? A bit of searching says about 48% of Americans travel by air each year, so about 150 million
...
Yeah, that database is going to get real busy, especially when you add all the foreign travellers coming in every year for holidays / business / blowing up skyscrapers etc
...
Funny they announced it on 9/11, just to remind us they are doing something useful
 

back_by_demand

Splendid
BANNED
Jul 16, 2009
4,821
0
22,780
[citation][nom]outlw6669[/nom]Until they shave/grow a beard or put on glasses, makeup, etc.....[/citation]
I'm sure if all it took to fool a billion dollar facial recognition software was a liberal application of lipstick or growing a moustache they wouldn't have even announced it
...
Tell you what, grow a moustache then rob a post office, then shave it off and see if you can fool the system, I dare ya
 

bildo123

Distinguished
Feb 6, 2007
1,599
0
19,810
-1984 points

Also, where exactly is the Fed gonna get the money to fund this? The BRIC nations are starting to see our t-bills as a bit risky (and worthless) now-a-days. Oh, I got it, QE3! Hurray "stimulus"! Thanks Ben and Keynes!
 

alidan

Splendid
Aug 5, 2009
5,303
0
25,780
[citation][nom]back_by_demand[/nom]I'm sure if all it took to fool a billion dollar facial recognition software was a liberal application of lipstick or growing a moustache they wouldn't have even announced it...Tell you what, grow a moustache then rob a post office, then shave it off and see if you can fool the system, I dare ya[/citation]

give me 100$ and i could make some realistic facial appliances that would fool real people, much less a computer.
 

freggo

Distinguished
Nov 22, 2008
2,019
0
19,780
8% false positive does not sound like a lot but take a 747 with 300 passengers.
That's still 24 passengers; enough to cause 'problems' :-(

And the Database is likely to contain mostly US citizens of course.
I don't see middle eastern governments turn over photos; and in the case of their women you'd get only a set of eyes anyway !

 
G

Guest

Guest
This is not to fight crime. It is an inventory management system. You are the inventory.
 

jellico

Distinguished
Apr 17, 2009
622
0
18,980
[citation][nom]alidan[/nom]give me 100$ and i could make some realistic facial appliances that would fool real people, much less a computer.[/citation]
I believe/agree with you. These systems work by taking measurements of things like the distance between your eyes, between your ears, distance from your eye corners to the bottom of your nose, etc. It then creates tables of ratios to form a sort of biometric hash of your face (obviously with fuzzy logic to account for things like wearing glasses, growing/removing facial hair, etc.). To defeat such a system, you simply need a facial appliance, as alidan suggested, that would alter these features thereby creating a false "hash" for the wearer. With practice, you could become skilled enough at applying them that they would look as good as anything produced by Hollywood. Granted, a human being might think you look a little odd (at a subconscious level, we expect faces to look a certain way and we are keenly aware of even minute deviations), but it would more than enough to defeat even billion dollar facial recognition systems.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.