As some of you may have guessed form previous posts of mine, I’m not real fond of government intrusions into the common man’s privacy. Believe me, I was nearly apoplectic when Bushy boy began having illegal wiretaps and computer spying going on in the name of “National Security”. Personally, I think they have their nose far enough up our collective asses as it is.
Well here we go again. A researcher at Michigan State University has created a computerized automatic image retrieval system whereby law enforcement agencies can match scars, marks and tattoos to identify suspects and victims.
Now normally I would say this was a good thing, but when is enough, enough? The last I counted we have computer programs to trace DNA, fingerprints, cell phone records, bank transactions, etc, etc. What’s next, a data base to let them count the undigested corn in your shit?!! Just how much of this intrusive crap do we really need?
According to Anil Jain, the researcher responsible for this latest bit of “keep track of ‘em” software, “In a world filled with homeland security concerns, identity fraud and natural disasters, the need to establish the identity of an individual based on something other than a driver’s license or demographic and personal data is vital.”
Excuse me, ‘Anal‘, but I thought we already had about six data bases that do that already. I hate to burst you bubble, but the dictator’s battle cry of national security has historically been used as the first step in toltarianisim by everyone from Julius Caesar to Adolph Hitler. Think not? Just check your history and you will find that every freedom crushing move they made was touted as for, “The good and safety of the people.” Can you say, “Are your papers in order?”
As Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Not to mention that I have to question the validity of such another program. For one with the new concealers out there on the market, and the ever growing industry of tattoo removal, as well as cover ups, it would seem to me that just keeping such a data base current would be a 24/7 task.
Finger prints, and DNA do not change, cannot be removed safely, and cannot be covered up. Tattoos and scars can be covered, removed, and are subject to change at a moments notice now days. So why?
Now this program works on Biometrics, an automatic computer identification program to identify an individual based on his anatomical or behavioral characteristics. In other words if your tattoo is not already in the data base, it cannot identify you. Now this wouldn’t be bad as far as a criminal goes, but notice that ‘Anal’s program adds victims to that mix. Now just how is that supposed to happen, and what happens if a computer glitch places that image into the wrong file?
Owning a computer, most of you already know how easy it is for the machine to screw up. Computers are stupid, they only know what a human being tells them, and like any machine they can and do malfunction.
Do we really need another personal identification system?
I think not.