Today, OpenTheGovernment.org submitted comments — endorsed by civil rights, human rights, immigrant rights, privacy and transparency organizations — to the Department of Justice about proposed Privacy Act exemptions to the FBI’s biometrics database – the Next Generation Identification (NGI) system. The comments oppose the FBI proposal to exempt the NGI system from virtually every key provision of the Privacy Act. The comments call for stronger privacy and transparency measures for the FBI’s NGI system, and oppose the FBI’s proposal to weaken existing protections.

The comments highlight that the FBI has asked to be exempt from the part of the law that lets citizens enforce any Privacy Act violation (5 U.S.C. § 552a(g)) – even violations of requirements from which the FBI is not exempt. For example, the Privacy Act indicates that agencies shall “maintain no record describing how any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment unless expressly authorized” in specific circumstances (5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(7)). Under the FBI’s proposal, the FBI could violate that rule – and private citizens could never take them to court.

The secrecy surrounding the FBI’s largest domestic database is an area of serious concern for open government groups and civil rights advocates alike. There is a need for greater transparency about the FBI NGI system, and the public has a right to the protections and redress afforded by the Privacy Act. OTG, along with the 18 endorsing organizations that submitted the comments today, strongly object any measure that would deprive the public of these crucial protections.

On June 23, OTG also joined a coalition of organizations in calling on members of Congress to hold an oversight hearing to assess the privacy, civil liberties, and human rights issues raised by the FBI’s NGI system, noting that need for closer scrutiny and proper public oversight for the FBI’s use of facial recognition technology.

Read the comments here.

The comments were endorsed by:

American Library Association

Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Campaign for Accountability

Cause of Action Institute

Center for Media and Democracy

ColorOfChange

Demand Progress

Defending Dissent Foundation

Free Speech Coalition

Government Accountability Project

National Immigration Law Center

National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild

National Security Archive

National Security Counselors

Privacy Times

Project On Government Oversight

Public Citizen

Sunlight Foundation

Additional information on the FBI biometrics database:

Coalition calls for hearings on FBI’s use of facial recognition and proposal to exempt biometrics database from Privacy Act protections (OpenTheGovernment.org)

Coalition expresses concern over FBI proposal to exempt biometrics database from Privacy Act protections (OpenTheGovernment.org)

No Privacy Rollback for the FBI’s Biometric Mega-Database (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

The FBI’s latest actions will make your blood boil (ColorOfChange)

The FBI is Not Worth of the Public’s Trust (Bill of Rights Defense Committee/Defending Dissent Foundation)

Biometrics Are a Grave Threat to Privacy (NYT op-ed)

EPIC v. FBI – Next Generation Identification (Electronic Privacy Information Center)