NEC’s Global Facial Biometrics Program Will “Solve Health Problems”

By MassPrivateI

Last week, NEC Corporation and Nagasaki University announced that they are creating a global facial recognition program based on the U.N.’s slogan of eradicating poverty called “Leave No One Behind.”

Seizing on the chance to turn the U.N.’s slogan into a global facial recognition marketing scheme, NEC has modified it slightly, calling it “Fahamu Mama-Mtoto (To know mother and child).”

If NEC’s plan to know mother and child is a success, we can all kiss “Hakuna Matata” goodbye, because we will no longer have to worry about our privacy for the rest of our days.

I have covered the rise of facial biometrics for years, but I have never ever come across such a bold slogan that plainly states that they want to identify everyone, including children. Although, the European Union’s (EU) mandatory national biometric ID cards and NIH’s 1 million person DNA database come close.

Ed Hasbrouck at PapersPlease.org has done an excellent job of exposing Big Brother’s plan to use facial recognition to identify air travelers, but I doubt that even he could have seen this one coming.

NEC’s global facial biometrics program will “solve health problems”

NEC’s press release is so audacious that I encourage everyone to read it. Here is an excerpt that is almost too incredible to believe.

Nagasaki University and NEC Corporation have established a program on global health & biometric authentication with Nagasaki University’s Graduate School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health Studies. The aim of this course is to research and develop human resources related to the utilization of ICT, including biometrics, to solve health problems in developing countries.

To claim that a global facial recognition program could “solve health problems” is beyond absurd. I mean what is next, why not claim that it can solve disease and drought?

NEC also claims their global facial recognition program will help “in the management of child and mother health information” by identifying everyone.

The program will acquire fingerprint and facial images of mothers who volunteer to collaborate with the university’s Maternal and Child Health Information System. This will enable identification by biometrics, even when identification cards are lost or missing, and will enable the maintenance of health and medical information, such as birth data, medical history, treatment history, and immunization status.

Corporate doublespeak has never been better; on the one hand you have NEC announcing their plan to create a global facial recognition program starting in Kenya, and on the other hand they claim that only those who “collaborate” will be entered into their database.

So which is it? Are they laying the groundwork for a global facial recognition program in Kenya or is it a voluntary “collaboration?”

As part of the activities of this program, Nagasaki University and NEC will verify the effectiveness of a biometric system in the management of child and mother health information, which is important for understanding the health status of local residents. The program will acquire fingerprint and facial images of mothers who volunteer to collaborate with the university’s Maternal and Child Health Information System.

Finally, we have an answer. NEC is using the Nagasaki University’s “Maternal and Child Health Information System” to help create a facial biometrics program.

NEC is a master at corporate doublespeak; one has to read between the lines of the next paragraph to truly understand their global plans.

The philosophy of Nagasaki University is to contribute to the harmonious development of society by fostering a rich spirit and creating science that supports peace and collaboration. Based on the university’s outstanding track record in tropical medicine and other fields, it aims to become a global health education and research center that contributes to better health throughout the world.

And there it is… NEC is using Nagasaki University to help create a global facial biometrics program for “better health throughout the world.”

The spread of facial biometrics is driven by government control and corporate greed. It has nothing to do with solving the world’s health problems.

Creating a global biometric database of close to 8 billion people should be a huge red flag for everyone. DHS, the EU and now NEC will stop at nothing to identify everyone, including children.

You can read more at the MassPrivateI blog, where this article first appeared.

Top image credit: AveAsia

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