Uber Applauds Coalition Calling For More Transparency in FBI Biometrics Database
Posted by Joe Sullivan, Chief Security Officer
Today, 45+ leading privacy and civil rights groups across the U.S. released a letter to the FBI in response to its recent proposal that would effectively make its biometrics database secret. This database has long tracked multiple identifiers for people, including fingerprints and facial features, and catalogs the records of tens of millions of Americans — many of whom have never been accused of a crime.
This database includes individuals who have worked as government employees, gone through a fingerprint-based background check, applied for green cards, posed for arrest photos and more. Often these pools of individuals are mixed in the database, and their information is used for a variety of purposes with very few privacy constraints. For reasons that groups like the Greenlining Institute have pointed out and more, the database affects African Americans, Latinos and immigrants significantly more than other groups.
Earlier this month, the FBI asked that the database be made secret. This would effectively lock down the database so that people can’t find out whether or not they are included, what information is associated with them, or how that information may be used against them. And the FBI has given the public just 21 business days to comment on the system and its request for secrecy.
That’s why groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and Sunlight Foundation have come together to ask the government for more time to comment on the flaws of the FBI’s system and its proposal. Uber supports their petition.
While there may be legitimate reasons for exempting some law enforcement activities, there needs to be more transparency in the FBI database — for example, how records are kept and updated and how that information is being used. In particular, officials should take more time to consider how the database is being wrongfully used to block individuals from getting access to economic opportunities when 51% of its arrest records fail to indicate whether individuals were found innocent or proven guilty.
To help ensure people have a fair chance at earning a living, Uber’s screening process embraces protections codified in the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other similar laws, ensuring lookback periods are reasonable and arrests without convictions or charges are not considered, among other indicators. We have said time and again that fingerprinting may not be the best way to determine whether or not someone is qualified and able to provide a safe and reliable ride. Further, there’s no evidence to suggest it would improve safety for passengers and it has costs to privacy that other approaches to background checks do not.
We believe the right path forward is to continue to improve the level of transparency and accountability that’s built-into our service and the processes available for screening drivers. Instead of relying solely on flawed databases that are known to have information gaps, our technology makes it possible to focus on safety before, during and after every trip.
When so many people’s lives are deeply affected by their inclusion in a potentially faulty database, it’s important that the public has the time and ability to analyze what’s in it and how it’s being used. We hope the DOJ and FBI not only grant these groups’ well-warranted request for an additional 30 days to comment on its proposal but also, consider the quality of the database and whether or not people should know how it may affect their lives.
