Sometimes the intersection of surveillance and privacy looks a little odd. That’s certainly the case with the recent revelation that the FBI is looking at way’s to develop tattoo recognition systems. (And yes, before you ask, I’m pretty sure the guy in the image attached to this is Hillary Clinton’s STD afflicted model)
It is no secret that law enforcement uses tattoos to help identify suspects. Anyone who has watched more than a few hours of Law and Order, has probably heard the questioning of a suspect include the question of identifying tattoos or facial features. There is a reason for that. They are pretty unique to the individual. So it’s probably not a stretch, as law enforcement ideas go, to catalog these (which they already do) and to figure out ways to do something with them.
Tattoos, which are usually elective (people choose their own tattoos), can reveal a person’s cultural, religious and political beliefs, the [Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)] says.
That all makes sense. However, as the article goes on to note, their are first amendment implications when tattoos that may be religious in nature are used for profiling. There is also a significant issue with the research into this effort.
Yes, that’s right, the US government, which has had a long history of mistreating prisoners and other test subjects without their knowledge or consent) is using personally identifiable information taken from prisoners without their consent to build a system to track anyone else with a tattoo (also without consent, and likely with significant likelihood of misuse.)
EFF is leading an effort to call attention to the potential misuse of tattoos that may denote political or religious affiliations, but the effort will obviously have much larger implications to the estimated 20-40% of Americans with tattoos. You can read their full report on the effort here.
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