Privacy row over FBI iris scan 'trial'

The FBI has a growing database of iris scans, which has angered privacy campaigners

The FBI has collected nearly 430,000 iris scans over the past three years, an investigation by technology website The Verge, has revealed.

What started as a pilot in 2013 has grown into a database "without any public debate or oversight", said the American Civil Liberties Union. It amounted to "runaway surveillance", director of technology Nicole Ozer tweeted.


The FBI said it was developing "best practices" for iris image capture. The project was launched i September 2013 and has seen the FBI collaborate with agencies in Texas, Missouri and California.

The iris data, taken from people who have been arrested, can be scanned in a fraction of a second. Privacy International said: "It is deeply concerning that hundreds of thousands of people's iris scans are being added to a biometric database without public debate, proper safeguards, or even awareness that such data has been taken and is being stored.

"If our biometric data is to be collected at all, such systems should not be introduced or continued before a public debate, strong legal frameworks, and strict safeguards are in place."