Government report highlights flaws in FBI database

Recently, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report assessing the accuracy and reliability of the FBI’s biometrics database, as well as how well it has adhered to public privacy notices required by federal law.

The GAO report finds that not only has the FBI repeatedly been years late in issuing basic required privacy notices, but the report also calls out the many inaccuracies present in the current system and the fact that the FBI hasn’t ever adequately tested its own database for accuracy.

As we and more than 45 leading privacy and civil rights groups recently stated, this is especially problematic considering that the FBI is now asking to make that database secret under the very same privacy laws that they’ve failed to adhere to. A database with a well-known set of inaccurate records that’s attempting to become even less transparent is troublesome, and this isn’t the first time the GAO has questioned the quality of FBI records. In 2015, they issued a report stating that many records still didn’t include data on whether an arrest resulted in a conviction or charge. As has been pointed out by the Greenlining Institute and others, the FBI database affects African Americans, Latinos and immigrants significantly more than other groups by blocking them from work opportunities they’re qualified for. That’s one of the primary reasons Uber uses a screening process for driver-partners that focuses on a review of actual court records, which shows whether an individual was convicted or exonerated of the offense for which they were arrested.

Considering the wide-reaching impact of the biometrics database from standpoints of privacy, employment, and fairness, we hope the FBI will not only reconsider whether to make the database private, but also encourage businesses and local governments to consider whether or not the database should be used for determining work eligibility.