Iris Scanners Create the Most Secure City in the World, Welcome Big Brother

We've all seen and obsessively referenced Minority Report, Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's dystopian future, when the public is tracked everywhere they go, from shopping malls to work to mass transit to the privacy of their own homes. The technology is here--I've seen it myself. And it's seen me--and scanned my irises.

Announced today, biometrics R&D firm Global Rainmakers Inc. (GRI) is rolling out its iris scanning technology to create "the most secure city in the world," according to the company. In a partnership with Leon, one of the largest cities in Mexico with a population of more than 1 million, GRI will fill the city with eye-scanners that will help law enforcement--and soon marketers--revolutionize the way we live.

"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," says Jeff Carter, CDO of Global Rainmakers, who, before coming to GRI, headed a think tank partnership between Bank of America, Harvard, and MIT. "Every person, place, and thing on this planet will be connected within the next 10 years."

Leon is the first step. To implement the system, the city is creating a database of irises. Criminals will automatically be enrolled, their irises scanned once convicted, while law-abiding citizens will have the option to voluntarily opt-in.

Soon, when residents of Leon 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. "I'm not sure about violent crime yet, but fraud, which is a $50 billion problem, will be completely eradicated," explains Carter, who jokes that not even the "dead eyeballs" seen in Minority Report could trick the system. "If you've been convicted of a crime, in essence, this will act as a digital scarlet letter. If you're a known shoplifter, for example, you won't be able to go into a store without being flagged. Certainly for others, boarding a plane will be impossible."

GRI's scanning devices are currently shipping to the city, where integration with infrastructure will begin with law enforcement facilities and security check-points, police stations, and detention areas. Phase II will focus more on commercial enterprises, with scanners rolling out to mass transit, medical centers, banks, and many more public and private locations.

The devices range from large-scale scanners like the Hbox, which is featured in the above airport-security prototype and can snap up to 50 people per minute in motion, to smaller scanners like the EyeSwipe and EyeSwipe Mini, which can capture the irises of between 15 to 30 people per minute.

Last week, I tested these devices at GRI's R&D facilities in New York City. It took less than a second for my irises to be scanned and registered in the company's database. After, every time I went through the scanners--even when running through (everybody runs, right Tom Cruise?)--my eyes were scanned and identified correctly. (You can see me getting scanned on the Hbox in the video below. "Welcome Austin," the robotic voice chimes.)

 

For such a Big Brother-esque system, why would any law-abiding resident ever volunteer to scan their irises into a public database, and sacrifice their privacy? GRI hopes that the immediate value the system creates will alleviate any concern. "There's a lot of convenience to this--you'll have nothing to carry except your eyes," says Carter, citing how of-age consumers will no longer be carded at bars and liquor stores. "And it's interesting: When you get masses of people opting-in, opting out does not help. Opting out actually puts more of a flag on you than just being part of the system. We believe everyone will opt-in."

This vision of the future eerily matches Minority Report, and GRI knows it. "Minority Report is one possible outcome," admits Carter. "I don't think that's our company aim, but I think what we're going to see is an enviroment well beyond what you see in that movie--minus the precogs, of course."

When I asked what he thought of the film, and whether he realized it was intended as a dystopian view of our privacy's future, Carter pointed out that much of our private life is already tracked by telecoms and banks, if not Facebook. "The banks already know more about what we do in our daily life--they know what we eat, where we go, what we purchase--our deepest secrets," he says. "We're not talking about anything different here--just a system that's good for all of us." One potential benefit? Carter believes the system could be used to intermittently scan truck drivers on highways to make sure they haven't been driving for too long.

GRI also predicts that iris scanners will help marketers. "Digital signage," for example, could enable advertisers to track behavior and emotion. "In 10 years, you may just have one sensor that is literally able to identify hundreds of people in motion at a distance and determine their geo-location and their intent--you'll be able to see how many eyeballs looked at a billboard," Carter explains. "For the first time you can start to track from the point a person is browsing on Google and finds something they want to purchase, to the point they cross the threshold in a Target or Walmart, and actually make the purchase. You start to see the entire life cycle of marketing."

So will we live the future under iris scanners and constant Big Brother monitoring? According to Carter, eye scanners will soon be so cost-effective--between $50-$100 each--that in the not-too-distant future we'll have "billions and billions of sensors" across the globe.

Goodbye 2010. Hello 1984.