FBI has 411 million photos in its facial recognition system, and a federal watchdog isn't happy [View all]

[n2doc]

By Zack Whittaker

The FBI has amassed more than 411 million photos as part of its vast facial recognition database, according to a government watchdog -- which in a new report criticized the system for its lack of safeguards and protections.

That includes millions of individuals' driving license photos, as well as photos of foreigners applying for visas, and criminal mugshots.

But the Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticized the FBI in a new report, published Wednesday, saying that the agency had not properly tested the system or balanced civil liberties and privacy.

The system kicked into operations in early-2015 after what appeared to be a relatively successful pilot. Agents would feed in a photo and the database would spring back between two and no more than 50 images of suspects, leaving the agent to make the final call on who the suspect might be.

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http://www.zdnet.com/article/federal-watchdog-concerned-at-fbi-biometric-database/