The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has slowly been incorporating new technology into its security lines for a while now, and now facial recognition programs at airports are one step closer to being widespread. In this clip, Glenn gives the latest news on the topic and he explains why you should NEVER let the government scan your eye…
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: The TSA is expanding facial recognition programs, at major airports. They're going to national -- they're going to roll this out nationally soon. But the facial recognition program -- this is -- this is really, really bad. Do not give the government a scan of your eye!
There is nothing worse than giving them a scan -- that is more unique than your fingerprint. It gives more information about you, than your fingerprint.
And people are just like, yeah. But I'll get through the line quicker.
Oh, my gosh.
Don't do that. It's now being used in more than a dozen airports. Vacation, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, TSA says it's going to destroy most of the images. That's kind of like saying, mostly dead. They're going to destroy most of the images. Within a couple of weeks.
Uh-huh. I'm sure. Sure. Sure.
Sure. Let's watch for that. Because you are going to see in the next year. Hmm. Maybe two. But I think it's going to be this year.
You are going to see the beginning of a -- a tracking system. A global monitoring system, that is beyond your imagination.
We now have technology through low altitude satellites. Drones. We are -- we are on the precipice of not a square inch of earth, being unseen 24 hours a day.
Not a square inch of earth. They're going to start it in the biggest of cities. They already are doing it in China.
But now we have the computing power, and we have the photographic power of being able to monitor everything and link everything. At you see the movie State of Fear?
Who was in that?
It was Gene Hackman. And Will Smith, I think.
STU: That was Enemy of the State? Right?
GLENN: Enemy of the State. Thank you. Enemy of the State. Enemy of the State, if you saw that, I remember watching that and going, that technology doesn't exist, does it? The answer then was no. But the people in the Pentagon and the CIA they were like, hey. That's a pretty good idea.
STU: There's a fun toy.
GLENN: Yeah. And we are now building it. And there's probably no stopping it now. You know, unless we had Congress on our side. Which don't count on that one.
But that is extraordinarily dangerous.
STU: What part of that technology are you talking about, when you say --
GLENN: The -- the part of technology, that could -- what they're building now is low -- or low altitude satellites, in a string. That can monitor one place, all the time.
So it -- because the satellites move, you would need a string of them. So it's constantly trained on New York City. And can lock in on New York City.
Continually, 24 hours a day. And then, it will have parameters through the algorithm of, that's unusual. That's not right.
And it can -- you know, it can read your -- you know, the back of your credit card from space.
And the algorithm will say, something terrorist activity. Something illegal may be happening. And it can automatically gin down. Zoom in on any area. Alert the police. Alert the feds. Or it can zoom in, and if it can't get close enough, all through the algorithm, it will then start to use the local cameras, all the way to your cell phones.
And be able to see exactly what's going on, everywhere, in that area.
STU: So basically, constant monitoring.
GLENN: They're calling it the all-seeing eye. I wrote about it. It's called the eye of Moloch.
STU: Uh-huh.
GLENN: But that is now coming -- coming soon to a world near you.
STU: And even, I know you -- I think I understand what you meant by this. But you said, oh, this is definitely going to happen, unless Congress gets on our side. But even if Congress was a Congress that respected the Constitution, China's is not. Someone eventually will do this.
GLENN: No. Somebody will do this. And that is the excuse they all will use. Look, China will do it. So we better do it too. The problem is, once you have it, no one -- no one ever gives that power up.
No one gives that power up.
That's the problem with the Intel being so tied into the administration.
You know, when -- when you have the NSA gathering information on every American, their phone calls. Everything.
No president is going to say, no. We should shut that town.
Mr. President, Russia is doing it to the American people. China is doing it to the American people. We should at least know so we have the heads up. They're just never going to get rid of it. Never.
STU: Well, it's not paranoia, if they're really after you.
GLENN: Exactly. Exactly right.
STU: It's not only true. But also tag line for Enemy of the State.
GLENN: I have to watch that again.
STU: Yeah.
GLENN: I've been reading -- I've been reading up on it lately. I think it's called whammy. And it's a little terrifying. The stuff -- we talked about it for years. And we said, one of these days. Well, when I say one of these days, it could be in the next six months that these things begin to come online.
STU: I'm a little disturbed that if they're calling it Whammy, are they naming it after the creature that steals your points on Press Your Luck, the old game show?
GLENN: Oh, my gosh. You've figured it out!
STU: I know.