Looking back, it is quite clear the COVID lockdowns provided an opportunity to beta test digital ID compliance through private company mandates and helps normalize the use of QR scans and facial pics for entry into private businesses. And it proved to be a success. Now we are seeing the same techniques being used with the rollout of the digital ID. The gold standard for biometric regulation was written in 2008 as the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act and is being replicated all over the United States. It mandates that private entities obtain written consent before collecting biometrics, disclose their policies, and destroy data after a set period.

And most importantly, it exempts government entities entirely, allowing state and federal government to collect and utilize biometric data while passing the liability to private corporations. These laws have been met with over a thousand class action lawsuits since 2015, which resulted in the standardization of consent prompts in apps and services, such as affirms biometric consent, which now states, by clicking accept or proceeding, you consent to collection of biometric data. Click a button and you’re in the new system. If government were to mandate the digital ID, it would predictably ignite mass protest. We can see this happening today in the UK.

The United States will avoid this by utilizing the private sector in what appears to be voluntary action. The FBI’s ClearView AI has harvested over 30 billion faces from social media. And because ClearView is technically a private company, the FBI has access to all this without the need for asking. In over 43 states, the Department of Motor Vehicles have sold driver’s license photos to private firms, who resold to local police for facial recognition. The government doesn’t need to mandate biometric ID, which would most likely be considered a violation of American rights. And so it outsources the mandate to private companies, who are legally required to get consent, while the government is free to collect and utilize this data under legal immunity.

Just like the COVID era, you will be free to give consent. But if you choose not to, you will have to leave the reservation and find a way to fend for yourself. Greg Reiss reporting. Thank you. [tr:trw].