Tag: biometrics

House Committee Leaders Urge FBI To Halt Certifying Chinese Biometric Devices

The bipartisan leaders of a House committee are urging the FBI to halt the certification of biometric products manufactured by Chinese tech companies, citing risks to U.S. national security.

In a letter dated July 15 to FBI Director Kash Patel, Reps. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chair and ranking member, respectively, of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said that biometric products from 32 Chinese companies are currently on the agency’s Certified Products List.

The FBI should “put an end to its ongoing certification of products from Chinese military-linked and surveillance companies … that could be used to spy on Americans, strengthen the repressive surveillance state of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and otherwise threaten U.S. national security,” the lawmakers wrote.

Among the 32 companies, the lawmakers highlighted Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, which was added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List in 2019 over its involvement in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) human rights violations in China’s far-western Xinjiang region. In 2021, Hikvision was designated as a company linked to China’s military-industrial complex in an executive order.

Currently on the FBI list is Hikvision’s HK300 PIV “single finger capture device,” which was certified on Jan. 15.

“Including these products on the Certified Products List grants these companies the FBI’s seal of approval, which they can leverage to market their products as FBI-approved to customers in the U.S. government, elsewhere in the United States, and around the globe,” the letter reads.

“This sends a dangerous signal to potential buyers that these companies’ products are trustworthy and heightens the risk that these products will be procured by U.S. government entities or contractors despite the security risks.

“It also sends conflicting messages about U.S. policy toward companies with ties to the PRC’s military-industrial complex.”

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The Wearables Trap: How The Government Plans To Monitor, Score, And Control You

“When the states legalize the deliberate ending of certain lives… it will eventually broaden the categories of those who can be put to death with impunity.”—Nat Hentoff, The Washington Post, 1992

Bodily autonomy—the right to privacy and integrity over our own bodies—is rapidly vanishing.

The debate now extends beyond forced vaccinations or invasive searches to include biometric surveillance, wearable tracking, and predictive health profiling.

We are entering a new age of algorithmic, authoritarian control, where our thoughts, moods, and biology are monitored and judged by the state.

This is the dark promise behind the newest campaign by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, to push for a future in which all Americans wear biometric health-tracking devices.

Under the guise of public health and personal empowerment, this initiative is nothing less than the normalization of 24/7 bodily surveillance—ushering in a world where every step, heartbeat, and biological fluctuation is monitored not only by private companies but also by the government.

In this emerging surveillance-industrial complex, health data becomes currency. Tech firms profit from hardware and app subscriptions, insurers profit from risk scoring, and government agencies profit from increased compliance and behavioral insight.

This convergence of health, technology, and surveillance is not a new strategy—it’s just the next step in a long, familiar pattern of control.

Surveillance has always arrived dressed as progress.

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London is the Testing Lab for Big Brother Mass Facial Scanning Tech

Since the start of 2024, the Metropolitan Police has been quietly transforming London into a testing ground for live facial recognition (LFR).

Depending on who you ask, this is either a technological triumph that’s making the capital safer or a mass surveillance experiment that would make any privacy advocate wince.

The numbers are eye-watering: in just over 18 months, the Met has scanned the faces of around 2.4 million people. And from that sea of biometric data, they’ve made 1,035 arrests. That’s a hit rate of 0.04%. Or, to put it plainly, more than 99.9% of those scanned had done absolutely nothing wrong.

The police, of course, are eager to present this as a success story. Lindsey Chiswick, who oversees the Met’s facial recognition program, calls it a game-changer. “This milestone of 1,000 arrests is a demonstration of how cutting-edge technology can make London safer by removing dangerous offenders from our streets,” she said.

Of those arrested, 773 were charged or cautioned. Some were suspects in serious cases, including violent crimes against women and girls.

But here’s where things get complicated. To secure those 1,000 arrests, millions of innocent people have had their faces scanned and processed.

What’s being billed as precision policing can start to look more like casting an enormous net and hoping you catch something worthwhile.

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Trump’s Big Brother Bill Expands the U.S. Surveillance State

On Tuesday, US Vice President J.D. Vance helped push Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act through the Senate with a tie-breaking vote. Vance’s vote came after Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina joined Democrats to vote against the bill, leading to a tie of 50 to 50.

The bill now moves to the U.S. House of Representatives, where Republicans aim to deliver the final version of the bill to Trump’s desk by July 4th.

The 900-page bill has its share of critics on the left and a few on the right, such as Rand Paul and Thomas Massie. One of the measures that was nearly universally opposed was a 10-year ban on local or state regulation of AI. Under a section titled “Moratorium,” the bill stated,”No State or political subdivision thereof may enforce, during the 10-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, any law or regulation of that State or a political subdivision thereof limiting, restricting, or otherwise regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems entered into interstate commerce.”

This clause would have prevented any state or local political body from enforcing regulations on AI systems. Ultimately, the moratorium was defeated in an all-night voting session.

While a ban on AI regulation would have been potentially disastrous, I believe the focal point of the opposition should be the fact that the bill expands the immigration police state, and the use of Artificial Intelligence, facial recognition, and biometric data collection of Americans.

According to Biometric Update, the bill would “codify a vision of the national security state where biometric surveillance, AI, and immigration enforcement converge at unprecedented scale.”

So what does the bill actually contain?

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, also known as House Resolution 1, gives more than $175 billion in immigration funding for 2025 alone. While opponents of illegal immigration may cheer this funding, we should take note that $30 billion is for “digital modernization efforts” involving AI and biometric surveillance.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will receive $2.5 billion specifically for artificial intelligence systems, biometric data collection platforms, and digital case tracking.

Under the heading “U.S. Customs and Border Protection Technology, Vetting Activities, and Other Efforts to Enhance Border Security,” the bill gives $637 million for the “deployment of technology, relating to the biometric entry and exit system under section 7208 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004”.

The section also states that the funds may only be used for “the procurement or deployment of surveillance towers” after they have been tested and accepted by US Border Patrol.

The mention of a biometric entry/exit system and surveillance towers is perfectly in line with the long-term plans of the US government and Donald Trump during his first administration. In fact, I’ve argued since Trump’s election in 2016 that the issue of immigration would be used to divide the masses and help usher in the final stages of the American police state.

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Big Beautiful Bill Will Massively Expand The Digital Biometric Surveillance State

Bill allocates billions for digital tracking systems nationwide, mostly under the guise of ‘border security.’ All major state and federal highways will be monitored 24/7 in real time.

The Senate version of H.R. 1, otherwise known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, reflects an aggressive expansion of AI-driven federal biometric surveillance infrastructure under the Trump administration’s second term.

The website Biometric Update, which reports on all things digital and biometric, posted an article on June 30 that points out how President Trump’s BBB will expand the digital surveillance state exponentially and place the U.S. on an irreversible course toward a biometric slave state that tracks the movement of everyone, everywhere.

According to the article, the 940-page bill does much more than allocate dollars; it would codify a vision of the national security state where biometric surveillance, artificial intelligence, and immigration enforcement converge at unprecedented scale.

The bill passed the Senate on Tuesday, July 1, after earlier passing the House and now returns to the House for reconciliation. Trump has said he’d like it on his desk by July 4.

According to Biometric Update:

“Passed out of the House along party lines earlier this year, the Senate version now reflects the Trump administration’s deepening focus on internal surveillance and deportation infrastructure. Although a final vote is pending in the Senate and will need to be passed by the House, what’s already in the legislative text that likely will remain intact is deeply consequential for civil liberties, biometric privacy, and immigration governance.”

It goes on:

“At its core, H.R.1 dedicates over $175 billion in immigration-related funding for fiscal year 2025 alone, which is by far the largest such allocation in U.S. history and represents a dramatic technology buildout. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would receive nearly $30 billion in funding through 2029, earmarked not only for personnel and deportation operations, but also for digital modernization efforts that lean heavily on AI and biometric surveillance. More than $5.2 billion within ICE’s share is dedicated to infrastructure modernization, including $2.5 billion specifically for artificial intelligence systems, biometric data collection platforms, and digital case tracking.”

DHS officials familiar with the bill’s intent say the funds are aimed at expanding ICE’s access to mobile biometric tools, integrating facial recognition into field operations, automating risk scoring for individuals in deportation proceedings, and accelerating case processing through AI-driven platforms.

This massive digital surveillance buildout is being done under the guise of immigration enforcement and border security. But that’s a ruse. A psyop.

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COPPA 2.0: The Age Check Trap That Means Surveillance for Everyone

A new Senate bill designed to strengthen online privacy protections for minors could bring about major changes in how age is verified across the internet, prompting platforms to implement broader surveillance measures in an attempt to comply with ambiguous legal standards.

The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (S.836) (COPPA 2.0), now under review by the Senate Commerce Committee, proposes raising the protected age group from under 13 to under 17. It also introduces a new provision allowing teens aged 13 to 16 to consent to data collection on their own.

The bill has drawn praise from lawmakers across party lines and received backing from several major tech companies.

We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.

Supporters frame the bill as a long-overdue update to existing digital privacy laws. But others argue that a subtle change in how platforms are expected to identify underage users may produce outcomes that are more intrusive and far-reaching than anticipated.

Under the current law, platforms must act when they have “actual knowledge” that a user is a child.

The proposed bill replaces that threshold with a broader and less defined expectation: “knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances.” This language introduces uncertainty about what constitutes sufficient awareness, making companies more vulnerable to legal challenges if they fail to identify underage users.

Instead of having to respond only when given explicit information about a user’s age, platforms would be required to interpret behavioral cues, usage patterns, or contextual data. This effectively introduces a negligence standard, compelling platforms to act preemptively to avoid accusations of noncompliance.

As a result, many websites may respond by implementing age verification systems for all users, regardless of whether they cater to minors. These systems would likely require more detailed personal information, including government-issued identification or biometric scans, to confirm users’ ages.

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ICE advances sole source deal with Palantir for new surveillance backbone

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to move forward with a sole-source contract to Palantir Technologies for the development of the next generation of its Investigative Case Management (ICM) system, which includes biometrics for migrant identification.

The ICM is essential to ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), where it serves as the primary software environment for managing case files, exchanging intelligence, tracking investigative data across multiple agencies, and tracking people. It is intertwined with ICE’s controversial Immigration Lifecycle Operating System, ImmigrationOS, which was also developed by Palantir, much to the consternation of privacy and civil rights advocates. Palantir was co-founded by Trump supporter and Elon Musk pal Peter Thiel.

Designed to serve as the backbone of HSI’s investigative operations, ICM allows agents and analysts to create, track, and manage criminal investigations across a broad range of activities, including human trafficking, transnational crime, cybercrime, narcotics, financial offenses, and immigration violations.

ICM facilitates the documentation and organization of investigative case files, evidence, intelligence reports, and inter-agency communications, and supports advanced data analytics, link analysis, and cross-referencing of individuals, entities, locations, and events. Critically, ICM also integrates with other federal law enforcement systems, providing a shared investigative ecosystem where information can be securely accessed and disseminated across agencies in real time.

ICE describes ICM as a core operational tool that enhances decision-making, helps deconflict investigations, and enables collaboration within and beyond DHS. It is also used to generate and manage legal documents, manage leads and tips, and ensure proper chain-of-custody and evidentiary protocols for prosecutions.

ICE’s decision to pursue Palantir as its exclusive vendor was revealed in its “sources sought” notice released by ICE’s Office of Acquisition Management in collaboration with the Information Technology Division (ITD) and HSI. The notice, which invites feedback from industry stakeholders through June 20, emphasizes that ICE has already determined that Palantir is uniquely positioned to meet the agency’s technical, operational, and security needs.

This move follows several years of procurement planning and vendor evaluation, including an industry day held in June 2023 and a formal Request for Information in July 2024. More than fifty responses were received, and multiple commercial-off-the-shelf technology demonstrations were conducted. Despite the variety of participants, ICE ultimately concluded that only Palantir could meet the high-performance, high-security, and integration standards necessary to deploy the next iteration of ICM by its critical September 2026 deadline.

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Biometric Surveillance Expands: American Airlines Rolls Out Facial Recognition at Four Major Airports

American Airlines has begun using facial recognition to verify passenger identities at airport security, further embedding biometric technology into the air travel experience. The airline’s new Touchless ID program, now live at several major airports, allows select travelers to move through TSA PreCheck without showing ID or boarding passes.

As of May 29, travelers passing through Ronald Reagan Washington National, LaGuardia, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, and Salt Lake City International can now confirm who they are simply by standing in front of a camera. That image is instantly compared against official federal photo databases such as passports or Global Entry records. If there’s a match, the traveler proceeds; no physical documents required.

This identity-verification option is available only to American Airlines AAdvantage members who are 18 or older, have a valid passport, and have an active TSA PreCheck membership with a Known Traveler Number. Users can enroll through the airline’s website or app, and participation lasts for a year, with the freedom to opt-out and revert to standard ID screening at any time.

The integration of facial recognition at TSA checkpoints may seem like a convenience upgrade, but it introduces concrete privacy risks that go far beyond the airport.

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Cities nationwide are quietly deploying facial recognition technology to track your every move

Police in cities across America want to deploy AI-driven facial-recognition technology that’s capable of tracking and identifying every human being who enters public spaces in real time.

Even politicians in some cities are calling for a pause or outright banishment of this technology from ever getting into the hands of cops. But the battle is shaping up to be a big one in cities nationwide, and if I was a betting man I would put my money on the technocrats and the cops. They will likely win out over the few politicians and taxpaying citizens who are concerned about privacy and civil liberties. They almost always do. They have the money and the media propaganda machine on their side.

According to an article in Biometric Update, two-thirds of Milwaukee’s city council says no, they don’t want this technology given to cops. An article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says 11 of 15 city alderpersons signed a letter opposing use of the facial recognition technology by the Milwaukee Police Department, citing concerns about bias, ethics and potential overreach.

Below is an excerpt from the article in Biometric Update, and notice the rationale — it’s always the same whenever technocrats are involved: Safety, speed and efficiency.

Milwaukee police currently don’t have a facial recognition system — but they want one, and have tested the technology. They say it makes solving crimes faster, and “can be done with the appropriate parameters in place to ensure that the use will not violate individual civil rights.” They say it would not be, and had never been, used as exclusively as probable cause to arrest someone. They have pledged to engage in public consultation as part of any formal acquisition process.

Nonetheless, the Council’s letter, written “in strong opposition to the deployment of facial recognition technology by the Milwaukee Police Department,” says that “while we understand the desire to enhance public safety and the promises people have made for this emerging technology, we believe these benefits are significantly outweighed by the risks.”

The article goes on to note that the council’s letter “names potential overreach by the administration of President Donald Trump as a risk factor, as well as studies showing that the majority of facial-recognition algorithms are more likely to misidentify people with darker skin, women and the elderly.

How absurdly shortsighted that their major concern is Trump using this technology. This suggests they’d be perfectly fine with facial-recognition being deployed if we just had a different person in the White House, someone with a “D” in front of their name like Gavin Newsom or Kamala Harris.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin has asked the Milwaukee Council to adopt a two-year pause on any new surveillance technology across city services, including police.

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Third World Countries Continue Rolling Out Digital Biometric IDs as ID4AFRICA Agenda is Underway

Numerous third world countries are continuing the global push of implementing biometric identification systems for their citizens and incorporate these systems into digital ID smartphone apps for increased tracking abilities. Behind this push are globalist organizations such as the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. Notably, a digital ID app could be theoretically shut off if the user fails to meet specific requirements, such as vaccination update schedules, although this has not happened, yet.

The ID4AFRICA event going on between May 20-23 in Ethiopia “unites the global identity community to advance the ID4D agenda, and to explore how digital identity and aligned services can support Africa’s socio-economic development and individual empowerment.”

Language on the site says that ‘stakeholders’ are able to attend the event – the word ‘stakeholder’ likely referencing the new globalist economy of ‘stakeholder capitalism‘ that the World Economic Forum promotes.

“The ID4Africa AGM welcomes participation from all stakeholder groups,” the ID4AFRICA about page said.

The ID4D agenda is an operation by the World Bank to roll out digital identification systems globally to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are part of the United Nation’s Agenda 2030 plans for a world government.

“According to the ID4D Dataset, approximately 850 million people lack official ID, and 3.3 billion do not have access to digital ID for official transactions online. The ID4D Initiative works with countries towards reducing this staggering number, and ensure that identification systems are accessible, protect people’s rights and data, and capable of facilitating transactions in the digital age,” the organization said.

In addition to Ghana, Venezuela, Ivory Coast, Edo State, Nigeria and Iraq which take biometrics of voters, a number of other third world countries are now implementing systems which are wider reaching in both scope and use case.

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