Soon the FBI will be done building a database containing the photographs, fingerprints and other biometric data for millions of Americans, but the agency has been far from forthcoming with the details. A new lawsuit filed this week aims to change that.

  The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit digital rights group based out of California, sued the United States Department   of Justice this week for failing to comply with multiple Freedom   of Information Act requests filed last year by the EFF.

  The Federal Bureau of Investigation received no fewer than three FOIA requests from the EFF last year for details about its state-of-the-art Next Generation Identification program, or NGI, a system that will store personally-identifiable data for   millions of Americans and foreign nationals to act as what the   FBI has called a “bigger, faster and better” version of   what law enforcement already uses. But while the bureau has   indeed already been using fingerprint information to track down   potential terrorists and troublemakers for years, the EFF’s main   concern revolves around what sort of space-age face recognition   abilities NGI will be able to employ.

  The FBI previously acknowledged that NGI will “house   multimodal biometrics records like palm prints and iris   scans” in one master system, as well as facial imaging   information and intelligence about scars, marks and tattoos.   Eventually, the agency said, it hopes to incorporate technology   to track down people using only their voice. For now, though, the   EFF is interested in what the facial recognition infrastructure   will be able to do, and is demanding the FBI fesses up.

“NGI will change almost everything about how the FBI treats   photograph submissions,” the complaint filed this week reads.   Citing government documents, the EFF says that the system will   allow “the increased capacity to retain photographic images,   additional opportunities for agencies to submit photographic   images and additional search capabilities, including automated   searches.”

“The proposed new system would also allow law enforcement ‘to   collect and retain other images (such as those obtained from   crime scene security cameras’ and from family and friends) and   would allow submission of ‘civil photographs along with civil   fingerprint submissions that were collected for noncriminal   purposes,’” the EFF continues.

  When all is said and done, the FBI will be able to use NGI to   scan millions of entries in a single database to find someone   based off of a single photograph, and the EFF fears that could   send things down a slippery slope.

“Governmental use of face recognition — and the potential for   misuse — raises many privacy concerns,” the EFF says in the   lawsuit.

  Using statements already made by the FBI about the program, the   EFF presents an argument about why they should be worried that’s   hard to counter.

“The FBI has also stated in a public presentation given at a   national biometrics conference that it wants to use its facial   recognition system to ‘identify unknown persons of interest from   images’ and ‘identify subjects in public datasets,’” the   complaint continues. “In the same presentation, the FBI   included a graphic image that implied the Bureau wanted to use   facial recognition to be able to track people from one political   rally to another.”

Another digital watchdog group, the Electronic Privacy   Information Center, previously alleged that NGI system could be   integrated with other surveillance technology in order to enable “real-time image-matching of live feeds from CCTV surveillance   cameras.”

Obtaining information about how the FBI will manage and operate   this information has been a priority for the EFF for over a year   now, and the failure to comply with those FOIA requests has   finally prompted the organization to ask a court to intervene.

“NGI will result in a massive expansion of government data   collection for both criminal and noncriminal purposes,” EFF   Staff Attorney Jennifer Lynch said in a statement this week. “Biometrics programs present critical threats to civil   liberties and privacy. Face-recognition technology is among the   most alarming new developments, because Americans cannot easily   take precautions against the covert, remote and mass capture of   their images.”

The EFF is asking the court to enforce the FOIA requests sent   last June and July, which could compel the FBI to disclose   information about the face-recognition program and any plans to   merge civilian and criminal records in a single database. They   are also asking for the total number of face-recognition capable   records currently in the database and an assessment of what   number the agency expects to have when it rolls out the program   in 2014.

“Before the federal government decides to expand its   surveillance powers, there needs to be a public debate,” Lynch said. “But there can be no public debate until the   details of the program are presented to the public.”

In a July 18, 2012 assessment, the FBI reported that the program   was “on scope, on schedule, on cost and 60 percent deployed.” The program is being put together by contractors   Lockheed Martin, who are expected to rake in $1 billion from the   government by the time the NGI system is finally up and running.

  The FBI previously admitted that they found 7,380 records that   were “potentially responsive” to one of the EFF’s request,   but has yet to deliver actual information pursuant to any of the   three FOIA submissions filed, prompting the nonprofit to allege   the FBI is “dragging its feet.”

  “FBI has not explained to the public how NGI or IAFIS’s system   design would ensure that civil submissions are not ‘tainted’ by   criminal submissions or explained why it is necessary to combine   the two types of data,” the EFF wrote in the complaint.