Tag: biometrics

Meta Considers Timed Face Recognition Launch to Exploit Distracted Society

Meta is weighing whether to add face recognition to its camera-equipped smart glasses, and The New York Times obtained an internal company document that reveals more than just the plan itself.

It reveals how Meta thinks about when to launch it: “during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”

Read that plainly: Meta wants to release a mass biometric surveillance product while the people most likely to fight it are too distracted to respond.

The technology would scan the face of every person who enters the glasses’ field of view, building a faceprint to match against a database. Every passerby. Every stranger on the subway. Every person who happens to walk through the frame of someone else’s device. None of them consented. Most of them won’t even know they were captured.

Faceprints are among the most sensitive data a company can collect. Unlike a password, a face cannot be changed after a breach. Once collected, this data enables mass surveillance, fuels discrimination, and creates a permanent identification trail attached to a person’s physical movement through the world.

Putting that capability into wearable glasses carried by ordinary people in ordinary places moves it off servers and into every room, street, and gathering that people enter.

Meta ran this experiment before and lost.

The company shut down (only kind of) its photo face-scanning tool in November 2021, simultaneously announcing it would delete (if you believe them) over a billion stored face templates. That retreat came after years of mounting legal exposure that produced a very expensive record.

In July 2019, Facebook settled a Federal Trade Commission investigation for $5 billion. The allegations included that the company’s face recognition settings were confusing and deceptive, and the settlement required the company to obtain consent before running face recognition on users going forward.

Less than two years later, Meta agreed to pay $650 million to settle a class action brought by Illinois residents under that state’s biometric privacy law. Then, in July 2024, it settled with Texas for $1.4 billion over the same defunct system. Nearly $7 billion across three settlements, all tied to face recognition practices the company ultimately abandoned.

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Discord to Demand Face Scan or ID to Access All Features

Discord is preparing to make age classification a constant background process across its platform. Beginning next month, every account will default to a teen-appropriate experience unless the user takes steps to prove adulthood.

Age determination will sit underneath routine activity, shaping what people can see, say, and join.

For accounts that are not verified as adult, access will narrow immediately. Age-restricted servers and channels will be blocked, voice participation in live “stage” channels will be disabled, and automated filters will apply to content Discord identifies as graphic or sensitive.

Friend requests from unfamiliar users will trigger warning prompts, and direct messages from unknown accounts will be routed into a separate inbox.

Core features such as direct messages with known contacts and servers without age restrictions will continue to function. Age-restricted servers will effectively disappear until verification is completed, including servers that a user joined years earlier.

The global rollout reflects a broader regulatory environment that is pushing platforms toward more aggressive age controls. Discord has already tested similar systems.

Last year, age checks were introduced in the UK and Australia.

For many adult users, the concern is less about access to content and more about surveillance and the ability to communicate anonymously. Verification systems introduce new forms of monitoring, whether through documents, facial analysis, or ongoing behavioral assessment.

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ICE observer says her Global Entry was revoked after agent scanned her face

Minnesota resident Nicole Cleland had her Global Entry and TSA PreCheck privileges revoked three days after an incident in which she observed activity by immigration agents, the woman said in a court declaration. An agent told Cleland that he used facial recognition technology to identify her, she wrote in a declaration filed in US District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Cleland, a 56-year-old resident of Richfield and a director at Target Corporation, volunteers with a group that tracks potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) vehicles in her neighborhood, according to her declaration. On the morning of January 10, she “observed a white Dodge Ram being driven by what I believed to be federal enforcement agents” and “maneuvered behind the vehicle with the intent of observing the agents’ actions.”

Cleland said that she and another observer in a different car followed the Dodge Ram because of “concern about a local apartment building being raided.” She followed the car for a short time and from a safe distance until “the Dodge Ram stopped in front of the other commuter’s vehicle,” she wrote. Cleland said two other vehicles apparently driven by federal agents stopped in front of the Dodge Ram, and her path forward was blocked.

“An agent exited the vehicle and approached my vehicle,” Cleland wrote. “I remained in my vehicle. The agent addressed me by my name and informed me that they had ‘facial recognition’ and that his body cam was recording. The agent stated that he worked for border patrol. He wore full camouflage fatigues. The agent stated that I was impeding their work. He indicated he was giving me a verbal warning and if I was found to be impeding again, I would be arrested.”

Cleland acknowledged that she heard what the agent said, and they drove off in opposite directions, according to her declaration. Cleland submitted the declaration on January 21 in a lawsuit filed by Minnesota residents against US government officials with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Cleland’s court filing was mentioned yesterday in a Boston Globe column about tactics used by ICE agents to intimidate protesters.

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TSA Proposes MyTSA PreCheck Digital ID, Integrating Biometrics and Federal Databases

The Transportation Security Administration is reshaping how it verifies the identities of US air travelers, proposing a major update that merges biometric data, mobile credentials, and government authentication platforms into one expanded framework.

Published in the Federal Register, the notice outlines a new form of digital identification, the MyTSA PreCheck ID, which would extend the agency’s existing PreCheck program into a mobile environment requiring more detailed data from participants.

Under the plan, travelers who want to activate the new digital ID on their phones would have to provide additional biographic and biometric details such as fingerprints and facial imagery, along with the information already collected for PreCheck enrollment.

The proposal appears alongside TSA’s recently finalized ConfirmID program, a separate fee-based service designed for passengers who arrive at checkpoints without a REAL ID or another approved credential.

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Are Newborns Next in Line for Britain’s Digital ID Push?

Congratulations! It’s a boy. Or a girl. Or maybe it’s a biometric data point waiting to happen, ready for tagging and cataloging before it’s even burped.

That’s right, folks: the UK Government is now toying with the idea of slapping digital IDs on babies at birth. Not metaphorically. Literally.

This is the UK, where your child’s first toy might be a state-linked QR code.

Ministers, we are told, have been whispering about extending Keir Starmer’s beloved digital identity scheme to include every single British infant.

But yes, this is real. Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons, who seems to be suffering from a severe case of “government by Black Mirror,” has been conducting private meetings on the topic.

The sort of meetings where you’re told to leave your phone at the door and pretend nothing happened. According to people present, jaws were dropping. Probably because the conversation had leapt from employment verification to baby barcoding faster than you can say “authoritarian drift.”

But don’t worry, Starmer says this is all about simplifying bureaucracy.

Let’s not forget how this all started: the Government insisted, hand on heart, pinky swear, that the digital ID scheme was only about immigration. Stop illegal working. Crack down on dodgy landlords. Check the papers. You know the script.

But now, somehow, without so much as a public debate or even a badly photoshopped leaflet, we’ve leapt from immigration controls to putting every British citizen on a digital leash from cradle to grave.

One source said: “You could see jaws dropping around the room,” The Times reported.

Former Conservative minister Sir David Davis was less diplomatic, describing the scheme as “creeping state surveillance,” and the ministers behind it as “stupid” and dazzled by their own gadgets.

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As Mexico’s Biometric ID Draws Closer, Implementation Remains Uncertain

Looking toward 2026, Mexicans and foreigners residing in Mexico are preparing to navigate an uncertain future regarding new laws that require biometric identification for certain services.

In July 2025, several new laws took effect in Mexico that greatly increase opportunities for government surveillance and coerce the population into registering for a biometric program required to access many services, including banking, health programs, social welfare, education, cellphone service, and internet access.

While the laws are set to be phased into practice beginning in February and continuing throughout the spring of 2026, it remains unclear how the policies will be enforced in a country known for its weak federal government and rampant corruption. It is also uncertain how the infrastructure for such programs will be implemented in Mexico’s vast rural areas, where as much as one fifth of the population resides.

The biometric requirement relates to Mexico’s personal identity code for citizens and residents, known as the Clave Única de Registro de Población (Unique Population Registry Code), or CURP. The CURP typically consists of 18 characters derived from a person’s family names, date and place of birth, and gender. It functions similarly to the US Social Security number.

The new laws will require the CURP to include the holder’s photograph and a QR code embedding biometric data, including scans of both fingerprints and irises. The legislation mandates the creation of a “Unified Identity Platform,” managed by the Ministry of the Interior and the Digital Transformation Agency. This platform will integrate the biometric CURP with the healthcare system as well.

The biometric CURP would also be required for purchasing internet and cellular services. This would force businesses selling these services to check a customer’s CURP before purchase. Individuals who do not comply with the CURP requirement could see their internet or phone service interrupted.

Mexico’s civilian intelligence service, the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI), and the National Guard will have access to the biometric data.

The Mexican government says these new laws are aimed at fighting organized crime and drug trafficking, as well as helping with the search for missing people. The government has also argued that controversial changes to the nation’s telecommunications laws are designed to bridge the so-called “digital divide,” referring to the limited access to internet and cellular service in rural areas compared to urban environments.

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Russia expands biometric ID system (again)

The commercial enterprise that controls Russians’ biometric data has introduced new ways to use your face as a form of ID, resulting in unprecedented levels of safety and convenience in the Russian Federation.

Russians young and old are already reaping the benefits of their country’s “digital transformation”—including very, very young Russians.

The Russian government is working on amending federal legislation to allow schools across the country to monitor and identify students using biometrics, Kommersant reported on December 3. Plans for a standardized “biometric turnstile system” for Russian schools are already being tested in Tatarstan.

Authorities have stressed that schools will be able to choose whether or not to switch to biometric identification, adding that parents must first consent before their childrens’ faces are scanned and entered into Russia’s Unified Biometric System (UBS).

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Alaska Plots AI-Driven Digital Identity, Payments, and Biometric Data System

Alaska is advancing plans for a far-reaching redesign of its myAlaska digital identity system, one that would weave “Agentic Artificial Intelligence” and digital payment functions into a unified platform capable of acting on behalf of residents.

A Request for Information issued by the Department of Administration’s Office of Information Technology describes a system where AI software could automatically handle government transactions, submit applications, and manage personal data, provided the user has granted consent.

We obtained a copy of the Request For Information here.

What once functioned as a simple login for applying to the Permanent Fund Dividend or signing state forms could soon evolve into a centralized mechanism managing identity, services, and money flows under one digital roof.

The plan imagines AI modules that can read documents, fill out forms, verify eligibility, and even initiate tokenized payments.

That would mean large portions of personal interaction with government agencies could occur through a machine acting as a proxy for the citizen.

While the proposal emphasizes efficiency, it also suggests a major change in how the state and its contractors might handle sensitive data.

The RFI describes an ambitious technical vision but provides a limited public explanation of how deeply such agentic AI systems could access, process, or store personal information once integrated with legacy databases. Even with explicit consent requirements, the architecture could concentrate extraordinary amounts of behavioral and biometric data within a single government-managed platform.

Security standards are invoked throughout the RFI, including compliance with NIST controls, detailed audit trails, adversarial testing, explainability tools, and human override features.

Yet those guardrails depend heavily on policy enforcement and oversight mechanisms that remain undefined.

The inclusion of biometric authentication, such as facial and fingerprint verification, introduces another layer of sensitive data collection, one that historically has proven difficult to keep insulated from breaches and misuse.

A later phase of the program extends the system into digital payments and verifiable credentials, including mobile driver’s licenses, professional certificates, hunting and fishing permits, and tokenized prepaid balances.

Those functions would be based on W3C Verifiable Credentials and ISO 18013-5, the same standards shaping national mobile ID programs.

This alignment suggests Alaska’s move is not isolated but part of a broader US trend toward interoperable digital identity frameworks. Observers concerned with privacy warn that such systems could evolve into a permanent, cross-agency tracking infrastructure.

The state’s document also calls for voice navigation, multi-language interfaces, and a new user experience designed to cover as many as 300 separate government services in one app.

Framed as modernization, the initiative nonetheless highlights an unresolved question: who truly controls a citizen’s digital identity once government and AI systems mediate nearly every transaction?

Once deployed, an AI that can act “on behalf” of a person also becomes capable of learning their patterns, predicting their needs, and operating continuously within government databases.

Once Alaska’s system moves forward, it will join a growing roster of governments weaving digital ID into the core of civic and online life.

Across Europe, Canada, and Australia, digital identity frameworks are increasingly framed as gateways to public and private services, while emerging proposals in the United States hint at a future where identity verification might become routine for accessing even basic online platforms.

These projects often promise efficiency, but their cumulative effect is to normalize constant identification, replacing the open, pseudonymous nature of the early internet with a model where every interaction begins with proving who you are.

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British Transport Police Launch Facial Recognition Trials in London Stations

Some people, when they want to improve public transport safety, hire more staff, fix the lighting, or maybe even try being on time.

The British Transport Police, however, have gone full Black Mirror, deciding the best way to protect you from crime on your morning commute is by pointing cameras at your face and feeding your biometric soul into a machine.

Yes, for many Britons, facial recognition is coming to a railway station near them. Smile. Or don’t. It makes no difference. The algorithm will be watching anyway.

In the coming weeks, British Transport Police (BTP) will be trialling Live Facial Recognition (LFR) tech in London stations. It’s being sold as a six-month pilot program, which in government-speak usually means it will last somewhere between forever and the heat death of the universe.

The idea is to deploy these cameras in “key transport hubs,” which is bureaucratic code for: “places you’re likely to be standing around long enough for a camera to decide whether or not you look criminal.”

BTP assures us that the system is “intelligence-led,” which doesn’t mean they’ll be targeting shady characters with crowbars, but rather that the cameras will be feeding your face into a watchlist generated from police data systems.

They’re looking for criminals and missing people, they say. But here’s how it works: if your face doesn’t match anyone on the list, it gets deleted immediately. Allegedly. If it does match, an officer gets a ping, stares at a screen, and decides whether you’re a knife-wielding fugitive or just a man who looks like one.

And you have to love the quaint touch of QR codes, and signs stuck up around the station letting you know that, yes, your biometric identity is being scanned in real time.

Chief Superintendent Chris Casey would like you to know that “we’re absolutely committed to using LFR ethically and in line with privacy safeguards.”

The deployments, we’re told, will come with “internal governance” and even “external engagement with ethics and independent advisory groups.”

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Thailand orders suspension of iris scans and deletion of data collected from 1.2 million users

Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Committee has ordered TIDC Worldverse to suspend its iris-scanning services and delete biometric data collected from 1.2 million users, citing non-compliance with Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act.

TIDC Worldverse is part of Sam Altman’s World ID project, which has faced scrutiny over potential links to cryptocurrency scams and unauthorised data use, including cases where people were allegedly hired to scan irises for others.

The National Health Security Office in Thailand has ordered the suspension of iris biometric data collection by TIDC Worldverse and has demanded the deletion of biometric data already collected from approximately 1.2 million Thai citizens.

TIDC Worldverse is the Thai representative of Sam Altman’s Tools for Humanity, which operates the World ID project (formerly Worldcoin) in Thailand. The initiative uses iris-scanning “Orb” devices to provide a digital “proof-of-human” credential.  Participants receive Worldcoin (“WLD”) tokens as an incentive for biometric verification.

Explaining in simple terms what the “Orb” is, Business Insider said, “The Orb is a polished, volleyball-sized metal sphere that scans irises to generate a ‘World ID’ – a kind of digital passport meant to distinguish humans from machines online.”

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