While it is known that biometric technology can help police to track down criminals. Now, the FBI is trying to establish an international biometric database for tracking down the world's most wanted criminals and terrorists.

 

The so-called "server in the sky" database would share criminals' biometric data, such as fingerprints and iris scans, internationally. The announcement of the database proposals comes on the heels of news earlier this week that the U.K. has completed a system to check the fingerprints of every visa applicant.

 

Last month, there were reports in the media which suggested that the FBI is spending $1 billion to develop the world's largest centralized biometrics database. The agency calls this system as the “Next Generation Identification.”

 

Now that the FBI is planning to take its ambitious project to the UK, the government and private agencies in the UK are already talking to FBI about this program. U.S. defense company Northrop Grumman, which built the Ident1 system has already spoken to the FBI about the server-in-the-sky database. The Home Office, the U.K. government department for law enforcement and public safety, has also stated that it has received the proposal from FBI and was aware of the FBI database project as one of a “wide range of initiatives we are constantly looking at to improve our investigative capabilities.”

 

A spokesman for the NPIA was quoted as saying in a CNet report, “The FBI are proposing this and the proposals are being discussed by the International Information Consortium group, but these are initial discussions; there are no agreements.”