Technology is a great thing, I would be first to say that; but as great as it is it can also be misused; regardless of the intentions of those who dream up all these great new ideas.
Such is the case with MORIS, Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System, and its ability when paired with Apple’s iPhone to be able to scan a person’s face from up to four feet away, in other words to potentially do it without a person knowing. On top of that MORIS can also perform a full iris scan, which is considered to be a much better way to identify a person.
This of course has set off alarm bells amongst civil libertarians and those who watch over privacy issues. Just in the past as we have talked about racial profiling privacy and civil liberty advocates are worried that this might become a tool used as routine way to identify someone, quite possibly without their consent or knowledge.
Needless to say police agencies are lining up to use the new technology as well as touting its positive aspects
“This is (the technology) stepping out of the cruiser and riding on the officer’s belt, along with his flashlight, his handcuffs, his sidearm or the other myriad tools,” said John Birtwell, spokesman for the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department in southeastern Massachusetts, one of the first departments to use the devices
via SiliconAngle
Countdown to the first lawsuit over this being misused begins … now.
