DOJ: There shouldn't be a Privacy Act exemption for the FBI

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Below is an example of the email we will send on your behalf to the Department of Justice. Feel free to edit it to be in your words and tell them why you think the FBI should not have its racially biased facial recognition database exempt from the very laws meant to keep programs like this in check.

<p>I stand opposed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's proposal to exempt the Next Generation Identification System from key provisions of the Privacy Act (CPCLO Order No. 003-2016 and No. 002-2016). There are strong reasons to think that NGI and the Privacy Act exemption will have acute -- and negative -- impacts on people of color, particularly Black Americans. The NGI database likely over-enrolls Black Americans because it is primarily built from arrest records submitted by states, and Black Americans suffer from disproportionately high arrest rates. Importantly, the database is not limited to people arrested for serious or violent crimes. Any crime is enough for enrollment -- no matter how minor, and no matter whether the person was actually charged with an offense. This racial bias in the database makes Black Americans more likely to lose work due to incomplete FBI records. A 2013 report found that half of FBI arrest records do not specify whether the person arrested was found guilty, innocent, whether charges were dropped, or whether charges were never filed in the first place. The same report found that due to disproportionately high arrest rates, Black Americans were highly likely to be hurt by these background checks. Furthermore, the FBI's own data suggests that face recognition programs may misidentify Black Americans, women, and young people at unusually high rates. NGI may be least accurate on the groups it affects the most. The exemptions that the FBI is asking for would make it nearly impossible to figure out whether you are in the system -- figure out whether that system is accurate -- and hold the FBI to account for any mistakes or abuses of it. The Privacy Act bars the government from keeping track of our First Amendment activities (absent a bona fide law enforcement investigation). (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(7)). This was inspired by J. Edgar Hoover&rsquo;s COINTELPRO program which was used to spy on and harm civil rights activists. The FBI wants an exception to the enforcement provision that applies to the whole Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(g)) &ndash; including the section that bars tracking of First Amendment activity. The FBI&rsquo;s exceptions to the enforcement provision would mean that if the FBI used its biometrics database to track people&rsquo;s political activities - like those in the movement for Black lives, those people could not sue the FBI to stop that unconstitutional surveillance. Given these concerns, I strongly oppose the FBI's proposed exemptions. Sincerely,</p>

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DOJ: There shouldn't be a Privacy Act exemption for the FBI

The FBI is trying to exempt its racially biased facial recognition database from key transparency requirements in the Privacy Act. These requirements are meant to prevent FBI surveillance of our constitutionally protected civil rights like freedom of speech and right to assembly.

Already, 1 of every 6 Americans is in this database, and if the FBI is allowed to get this exemption, not only will we be unable to monitor and correct this racially biased database, but the FBI would be able to again run illegal spy programs like COINTELPRO.

We need to stop this now. Tell the Department of Justice that you stand firmly against the FBI's aggressive attack on our civil liberties.