Next Generation Identification (NGI) is a project of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI). The project's goal is to expand the capabilities of the

Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) is a computerized system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) since 1999. It is a national automated fingerprint identification and criminal history system. IAFI ...

(IAFIS), which is currently used by law enforcement to identify subjects by their

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

s and to look up their criminal history. The NGI system will be a more modular system (allowing easy expandability). It will also have more advanced lookup capabilities, incorporating palm print,

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

, and facial identification. The FBI first used this system in February 2011. The system was developed by Lockheed Martin in partnership with Safran and with a number of technology companies. By 2012 the database had 13.6 million images representing 7-8 million individuals, 16 million images by mid-2013, and over 100 million records by 2014. The database includes both non-criminal and criminal face images, including at least 4.3 million face images taken for non-criminal purposes added by 2015. These noncriminal photos come in part from background check images submitted by employers to the FBI. By December 2015 the database had 70.8 million criminal records and 38.5 civil records. In 2016 a group of organizations published a letter condemning an FBI proposal to make the database exempt from the Privacy Act provision that allows individuals to inspect their own records in the database to check for accuracy and fairness. Signatories included La Raza, Color of Change, Amnesty International, National LGBTQ Task Force, as well as the companies Uber and Lyft. The DOJ granted this exemption in 2017.{{cite news , last1=Whittaker , first1=Zack , title=FBI can keep secret who's in its biometrics "mega database," says Justice Dept. , url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/fbi-to-keep-secret-biometrics-database-justice-department/ , access-date=4 August 2021 , work=ZDNet , date=August 8, 2017 , language=en The FBI accepted a 20 percent error rate in its facial recognition technology, according to a 2010 document obtained via FOIA.

Organizations involved in the project

* Accenture * BAE Systems * createTank * Global Science & Technology (GST) * IBM * Ingersoll Consulting Information Solutions (ICIS) * Innovative Management & Technology Services (IMTS) * Lakota Software Solutions, Inc * Lockheed Martin *

National Center for State Courts The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is an independent, non-profit organization focused on improving the administration of justice in the United States and around the world. Its efforts are directed by a 27-member board of directors and thr ...

(NCSC) * NTT Data * Platinum Solutions

References

External links

FBI Press Release (February 12, 2008)

FBI Report to the Department of Justice, justifying the project (PDF file, August 6, 2006)

FBI NGI

FBI Pushes S-COMM to Spur Public Acceptance of Massive New Biometics Database
Biometric databases Facial recognition software Federal Bureau of Investigation Law enforcement in the United States Law enforcement databases in the United States