The Case of Thomas Matthew Crooks: The Implications of Government Access to Biometric Data

The FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks using DNA and biometric data. This is considering he had no criminal record and lacked identification. This raises questions about how the government possesses such data for individuals without criminal backgrounds. One possible explanation is that biometric data are collected from various non-criminal sources, such as military service, employment, or driver’s license records. The legal basis for collecting and storing this data can include national security measures, employment background checks, and identification purposes.

Editor’s Note: Privacy concerns surrounding digital IDs are legitimate and pressing, especially in light of recent events. The identification of Thomas Matthew Crooks using DNA and biometric data, despite his lack of a criminal record, underscores the extent of government access to personal information.

The potential for mandatory digital ID systems to infringe upon individual liberty is not an impossibility like now. All governments must understand that keeping digital IDs voluntary is essential to respecting citizens’ privacy and ensuring they retain control over their information, in this case, it is a matter of what’s true and what’s not. Can we really trust something so abstract and so inhuman? [See: Ensuring Privacy: The Ongoing Case for Voluntary Digital ID Systems]

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