Biometric Databases Catch Criminals

By the year 2021, the European Union will have a database of fingerprints,
photographs for facial recognition, passport numbers and birth dates of all its
350 million citizens. Data that are measurements of a person's body, such as a
photograph of their face, are known as biometric data. In the EU, the
biometric database will be called CIR, for Common Identity Repository. The
database will also allow searches of other databases to match citizens posing
with multiple identities, which will aid border control and security agencies.
Critics are concerned that with so much information in one database, it will be
a target for security breaches.

With many agencies having shared access to the biometric database, there
could be more exposure and risk to cybercrime and no entity, be it private or
government, is invulnerable to security breaches. Although the United States
does not have a country-wide biometric database such as the EU's CIR, law
enforcement agencies around the country have access to various databases
containing biometric data such as photographs. Many of these agencies are
now using facial recognition software to search the database for a specific
criminal. This searching is controversial because the US lacks most laws
governing the use of searching databases for a facial match. For example, in
the states of Maryland and Indiana, the police are allowed to search a
database of driver's license photos to recognize a potential criminal, whereas
in Oregon, only the database of mug shots is allowably searchable. Legally,
driver's licenses photographs are not considered public record, which presents
a dilemma to law enforcement.

In the spring of 2019, San Francisco banned the use of facial recognition by
police and city agencies. Lawyers are beginning to weigh into the discussion.
At the Georgetown Law Center of Privacy and Technology, a spokesperson,
Ms. Garvie said "There is a fundamental absence of transparency around when
and how police use face recognition technology. The risks of misidentification
are substantial." (Bosman & Kovaleski, 2019) US citizens and lawyers are not
the only groups to be concerned about the government's use of biometric
databases. In 2019, the House of Representatives' House Oversight Committee
has support from bipartisan groups to control the use of biometrics in
government agencies.

Although the US might not have a domestic biometric database for law
enforcement, other agencies are currently searching biometric databases to
catch criminals. The US Department of Homeland Security has created a large
bio-metric database called HART, short for Homeland Advanced Technical
System. The biometrics in this database include facial photos, fingerprints,
irises and other distinguishing features like tattoos. In addition, HART can
share data from other agencies such as the FBI and the State Department.

The HART database is stored on Amazon's Web Ser-vices, AWS. Amazon

serves the government's data storage needs through GovCloud. Other
government agencies use GovCloud such as NASA, the CIA, and the Defense
Department. GovCloud complies with all government regulation requirements
and also commercial security and privacy standards. The physical databases
are stored in different zones in the United States to ensure continuous data
avail-ability and low latency. (Latency is the time it takes for data to travel
from the data center to the user.) Each site has its own power supply including
air-conditioning in a secured setting. Multiple copies of data are stored
(redundancy). "The use of technology and data is becoming increasingly
important to law enforcement," said Major Mike White, Assistant Chief of Staff
with the Indiana State Police Department. "With advancements, come the
need for secure connectivity and storage without draining the budget. Storage
for databases, reports, and video are part of today's challenges for law
enforcement technology managers. AWS is quickly becoming a go-to solution
for technology needs that won't break the bank."(Business Wire, 2018).

A. INTRODUCTION
1. Identify the key problems and issues in the case study
2. Formulate and include a thesis statement, summarizing the outcome
of your analysis in one or two sentences

B. CONTEXT
3. Provide background information, relevant facts and the most
important issues.
4. Demonstrate that you have researched the problems in this case
study.

C. Alternatives
5. Outline possible alternatives (not necessarily all of them).
6. Explain why alternatives were rejected

D. Proposed Solution
7. Provide one specific and realistic solution
8. Explain why this solution was chosen
9. Support the solution with solid evidence
  Concepts from class (text readings, discussion, lectures)
 Outside Research

E. Recommendations
10. Determine and discuss specific strategies for implementing the
proposed solution
11. If applicable, recommend further action to resolve some of the issues