Posted on 06/03/2016 4:18:03 PM PDT by MarchonDC09122009
5 Ways Law Enforcement Will Use Tattoo Recognition Technology - Electronic Frontier Foundation
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/05/5-ways-law-enforcement-will-use-tattoo-recognition-technology?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWm1NeU56TmxOelptT0RjNCIsInQiOiI4dk1NRjl2bld2Mk5aRW9weFpod1h4djJxTTZ3Kzg5NEJRc0NjMmFOWmVUc3dsQmlYSmdWajZaUDVMU2ZNcitrclNIa25RVGlZaXVtbG85OHBsNWRld3RadkRRWWMzSlFLTXJvanlxZUdwYz0ifQ%3D%3D
June 2, 2016 | By Dave Maass and Aaron Mackey and Soraya Okuda 5 Ways Law Enforcement Will Use Tattoo Recognition Technology
There's an action movie cliché in which a cop inspects the body of a felled assassin or foot soldier and discovers a curious tattoo that ultimately leads to a rogue black-ops squadron, a secret religious sect, or an underground drug trafficking ring.
The trope isn’t entirely Hollywood fantasy, but the reality of emerging tattoo recognition technology is closer to a dystopian tech thriller. Soon, we may see police departments using algorithms to scrape tattoos from surveillance video or cops in the field using mobile apps to analyze tattoos during stops. Depending on the tattoo, such technology could be used to instantly reveal personal information, such as your religious beliefs or political affiliations.
For years, law enforcement has used tattoos to identify criminal suspects as well as unidentified victims. Police have also used tattoos to map out subcultures and networks of gangs and hate groups. Until recently, however, tattoo matching and analysis has involved flipping through the pages of photo binders; any computer-assisted matching has been limited to metadata searches of keywords.
NIST's Official Tattoo Recognition Technology
In 2014 and 2015, federal researchers at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) joined forces with the FBI to launch a program to accelerate tattoo recognition technology. As part of Tatt-C (the code name for NIST’s "Tattoo Recognition Technology Challenge"), officials assembled a giant dataset of prisoner tattoos and divvied it out to biometric companies, research institutions, and universities. They were asked to run five experiments to show how well their algorithms could match tattoos under various circumstances.
Some tests involved matching different photos of the same person’s tattoo. Other experiments sought to match similar tattoos on different people based on their characteristics—such as a crucifix, Minnie Mouse, and Chinese calligraphy. These tests pose serious concerns for privacy, free expression, religious freedom, and the right of association.
Each one of these experiments correlated to a specific law enforcement use. The Tatt-C results, released last summer, now serve as a crystal ball into what law enforcement has planned for this technology over the years to come.
Here are the five tests and what they tell use about the future of tattoo recognition technology.
Related: Learn why EFF is calling for an end to this research.
Note on the data: The Tatt-C dataset contained 15,000 images obtained by the FBI from prisoners. The dataset was split into subsets and sub-subsets for individual trials. Tatt-C participants self-reported their results, which were not independently verified. The percentages below reflect the accuracy within the experiment, and not necessarily how accurate the technology would perform in the real world.
Current state of art taut 90 percent accurate identification.
Exciting breakthroughs that will help implementation of a much needed universal identification, criminal - gov't benefits - financial - retail payment and tracking database system.
The future is gonna be double-plus good!
People who get tattoos are really stupid. Cops always catalog them, put you on a list, they fade and look like big giant bruises as the tattooee gets older and they generally just look like cheap sh*t.
Last time I was ever in a Walmart, all the women looked like they were on break from some backwater carnival.
There’s not one single tattoo on this woman. Never will be, either.
Related:
Facial recognition will soon end your anonymity - MarketWatch
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facial-recognition-will-soon-end-your-anonymity-2016-06-02
Facial recognition will soon end your anonymity
By Tarun Wadhwa
Published: June 3, 2016 2:07 p.m. ET
Nearly 250 million video surveillance cameras have been installed throughout the world, and chances are you’ve been seen by several of them today. Most people barely notice their presence anymore — on the streets, inside stores, and even within our homes. We accept the fact that we are constantly being recorded because we expect this to have virtually no impact on our lives. But this balance may soon be upended by advancements in facial recognition technology.
Soon anybody with a high-resolution camera and the right software will be able to determine your identity. That’s because several technologies are converging to make this accessible. Recognition algorithms have become far more accurate, the devices we carry can process huge amounts of data, and there’s massive databases of faces now available on social media that are tied to our real names. As facial recognition enters the mainstream, it will have serious implications for your privacy.
Slight difference when using tats that people voluntarily get without the government marking them though.
Lots exciting citizen database developments that we’re promised will make our lives better.
It’s comforting to know that Google, Facebook and Microsoft are working tirelessly to bring us badly needed dystopic progress courtesy of their products and services we use!
Thank goodness pResident Obama and Big brother are leading the way.
Executive Order — Using Behavioral Science Insights to Better Serve Americans
Sep 15, 2015 ... Executive Order — Using Behavioral Science Insights to Better Serve the American people.
Where Federal policies have been designed to reflect behavioral science...
My only concern regarding tats is that some tattoos (depending on shape, pigment used, etc.) interfere with cat-scans.
Yep. And the worst looking ones are tattoos on black people. They really do just look like bruises. You can’t even see what they are supposed to be when they’re new. What’s the point?
Only bikers and servicemen (with service related tats) should even think of getting them. As for women, no woman looks better because of a tat. A few may still look hot, but it’s in spite of the tattoo, never because of it. I see young idiots walking around sporting thousands of dollars worth of tattoos and they don’t own a pot to piss in. Bunch of moron losers. /rant
I’ve often wondered if this woudln’t happen.
Great, I’m glad there is at least one women who doesn’t want to look like a carnival worker from Slackjaw County. Primitive cultures tatted themselves up long before the easily led were told it was cool.
Suddenly, I feel like playing a game of chess.
Maybe he did too.
Me either.
Imagine having to sit across from that woman and her disgusting insect-being-eaten tattoo while dining.
My g*d, how screwed up a thing.
Nope, Trash Tags ruin even a formerly beautiful girl. Mutilations are even stupider.
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