Biometric IDs and Electronic Surveillance

Arizona Pursues Fingerprinting for Pharmacy Pickups

Plan to require fingerprinting to pick up certain prescriptions targets fraud

December 21, 2010

The Arizona Republic - Peoria could become the first Arizona city to require fingerprinting at pharmacies when picking up prescriptions for commonly abused drugs in an effort to curb an escalating number of fraud cases.

Peoria law-enforcement officials this month proposed an ordinance that would require anyone filling prescriptions for drugs such as OxyContin and Percocet to show ID and be fingerprinted at the pharmacy counter, including anyone picking up a prescription for a family member or friend.

Peoria City Attorney Steve Kemp said the proposal could provide better evidence to prosecute cases.

Dan Pochoda, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, called it an "overreaction."

"This raises serious concerns about intrusion of privacy," Pochoda said.

Kemp said he expects to present details of the plan to the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy in January and to seek its input. He said it's likely he will return to the City Council by March with the proposed ordinance.

Officials in several Valley cities, including Phoenix and Scottsdale, said that although prescription fraud is a concern, no such ordinances are in the works.

This isn't the first time that laws related to drug sales have been launched at the city level. Cities have passed laws to put tighter controls on the sale of over-the-counter items containing pseudoephedrine, which is used to make methamphetamine.

State lawmakers responded in 2005, passing a law requiring the decongestant to be sold behind the counter. State health officials pushed for a statewide database launched in 2008 to track certain prescriptions. The program stores individuals' prescription information so physicians and pharmacists can identify "doctor shoppers," people who visit numerous doctors to get drugs that are potentially addictive.

The state pharmacy board does not have to notify law enforcement.

Peoria's proposal would tie law enforcement into the equation.

States such as New York, Nevada and Texas similarly require ID when purchasing commonly abused prescriptions. None has gone as far as requiring fingerprints. Delray Beach in Florida considered it, although no such law passed there.

Peoria's proposal stems from what officials say is an escalating local and national concern. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, prescription-drug abuse is second to marijuana as the country's most prevalent drug problem. Prescription-fraud cases in Peoria have doubled since 2009, from 50 to 100, which only counts cases police had leads to follow.

Kemp said fingerprinting happens routinely at such places as scrap-metal dealerships, where state law requires it for those selling scrap worth more than $25. He said fingerprints would only be checked if there was reason to verify a person's ID in a suspected fraud case.

But is fingerprinting the answer? And is it even legal?

Kemp said he thinks it would hold up in court. He said he sees it as similar to the other instances where fingerprinting is already required. Several industry officials said the proposed ordinance could be problematic, at least practically.

"I think they have an authority to do it, but it may not be wise because it will be hard for pharmacies to track which law to follow in which city," said Hal Wand, Arizona State Board of Pharmacy executive director.

Wand said he hasn't heard any discussion of the issue at the state level or elsewhere in Arizona.

John Norton, a spokesman for the National Community Pharmacists Association described the Peoria proposal as "one of the most stringent ones we have heard of."

Mindy Smith, chief executive of Arizona Pharmacy Alliance, said the proposal may not end fraud.

"Those who seek drugs fraudulently would simply go elsewhere," she said.

Sgt. Ed Wessing, spokesman for Mesa police, said he saw "no harm" in requiring IDs to fill prescriptions, "but who picks and chooses what kinds of medications to regulate and combinations of medications can be problematic." He declined comment on the fingerprinting aspect.

Pochoda of the ACLU said that to collect fingerprints of everyone filling a prescription is "like saying we'll take a blood sample of every person, and later if they are a suspect we'll use it."

Minority Report: NYPD Implements Iris Scan Technology

December 17, 2010

TruthSquad.tv - The NYPD has begun to implement iris scanners to create a bio-metric database of criminal suspects as they are processed through central booking. NYPD says this new identification program is a fail-safe measure to prevent escapes as suspects move through the court system and that this technology is in response to two suspects escaping police custody by impersonating lesser offenders.

Jeff Carter, CDO of Global Rainmakers Inc. a leader in the biometrics field says,

“In the future, whether it’s entering your home, opening your car, entering your workspace, getting a pharmacy prescription refilled, or having your medical records pulled up, everything will come off that unique key that is your iris. Every person, place, and thing on this planet will be connected [to the iris system] within the next 10 years.”

Global Rainmakers Inc. has partnered with the city of Leon, Mexico to build “the most secure city in the world” by installing iris scanners. The eye scanners will be implemented in law enforcement facilities, security check-points, police stations, detention areas, jails and prisons, and will eventually make their way into mass transit, medical centers, banks and other public and private locations will also join the program.

Fast Company reports that the city is creating a database of irises. Criminals will automatically be enrolled, their irises scanned once convicted. Law-abiding citizens will have the option to opt-in. When these residents catch a train or bus, or take out money from an ATM, they will scan their irises, rather than swiping a metro or bank card. Police officers will monitor these scans and track the movements of watch-listed individuals.

Back in the U.S. at a Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas the Department of Homeland Security beta tested iris scanners and in one Missouri county, the sheriff’s office is using an Iris scanner purchased with U.S. Department of Justice funds. Unknown by most, the technology is reportedly already being used by law enforcement in 40 states throughout the country.

There is even an app for that. B12 Technologies has equipped police with iPhones armed with facial recognition software linked to fusion center databases.

Amusement parks like Disney World and Sesame place have implemented biometric ticketing as well. How long before under the auspice of anti-terror legislation the federal government requires these corporations to turn over their customers biometric data? Even the controversial “naked body scanners” store biometric data as has been revealed by Freedom of Information (FOIA) Act Requests, contrary to what the TSA has been telling the main stream media.

The iris scanners have also been used in airports. The TSA will allow you to skip to the head of the line if you submit to being included in a biometric database. It all comes in the name of convenience. Trade your privacy to save a few minutes on line at the airport amusement park.

The NYPD program is being paid for by a grant from the Department of Homeland Security. The NYPD already shares its database information with DHS through its NYPD Intelligence Division, which is actually a known “fusion center.” These fusion centers act as hubs of information, merging databases from the NYPD, DHS, Motor Vehicle and many other sources to create a searchable catalog of the entire population. There are over 70 fusion centers in the United States according to Catherine Bleish founder of Operation Defuse whose goal is to create a rapport between civil liberty groups and the fusion centers that will “defuse” the conflict of security and rights violations.

“That’s not our intention here, but it has potential,” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said in reference to using the iris scanners for counter terrorism purposes.

“The NYPD can now photograph the irises of suspects arrested for any reason and they implemented this without any legislative oversight or public discourse. There are also no reports on how authorities plan to protect this collected biometric data from misuse.” said David Perecman a civil liberties attorney in New York.

That is probably because the NYPD Intelligence division has no plans to protect this information from being disseminated through the NY fusion centers allowing access to any law enforcement agency in the network.

“This type of data collecting is not authorized by any New York statute. Collecting fingerprints is specifically allowed. DNA evidence has had more legislative debate and its usage is only limited to certain types of cases.” said Perecman.

This information dovetails with another recent controversy over “stop and frisk” databases. Ray Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg pushed to keep the recently banned NYPD policy to keep a database of New Yorkers who were stopped and frisked but not found guilty of any violation. You read that correctly. Mayor Bloomberg wanted to keep a list of innocent people who the NYPD stopped and frisked with no probable cause in a direct violation of their Constitutional rights. Incidentally only 6 percent of those random stop and frisks lead to an arrest, the conviction rates were not readily available. That means that more than 94% of people in that database are innocent.

The “250” List as it is referred to because of the UF-250 form that officers use to file stop-and-frisk reports has over 3 million names on it. Eighty seven percent of those stopped were black or Latino.

Governor Paterson signed into law a ban on this policy, although that only stops the NYPD from keeping their names in an electronic database. The NYPD is still keeping a paper record of these stops even if no evidence of a crime has been found and no arrest made. The NYPD continues to violate the constitutional rights of New Yorkers randomly stopping people for reasons as innocuous as spitting on the ground or dropping a cigarette butt. It should also be noted that the Mayor Bloomberg has been lobbying for British style video surveillance in NYC. Britain has one CCTV camera for every 14 citizens.

So where do we see all of this going? If Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Ray Kelley get there way Police officers will be stopping, frisking and taking retinal scans of millions of innocent New Yorkers then data sharing with the Federal government, Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies in violation of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.