Impact of Collection of Biometric Data

Lawyers and policy analysts from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have collaborated with the Immigration Policy Center to produce a report on the social impact of collection of biometric data. They argue that collection and use of this data (for example: fingerprints, DNA, face-recognition ready photographs, iris scans, and voice recordings) disproportionately impact immigrant communities in the United States. The authors worry that misuse could lead to racial profiling, discrimination, and could affect the employment and residency status of millions of documented and undocumented immigrants in the US.

The Fourth Amendment provides some protection for fingerprints and blood samples, yet has broad exceptions for searches conducted at borders. The report therefore calls for stricter legislative requirements for the use and collection of biometric data. Most interestingly, the report advocates a limitation on the combination of biometric data (eg: matching facial recognition technology with licence plate identification). Is there support for this kind of suggestion in the privacy law we have today?

Full report can be found here:
https://www.eff.org/document/fingerprints-dna-biometric-data-collection-us-immigrant-communities-and-beyond